Guardiola salutes kindred spirit Pochettino
Manchester - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola lavished praise on his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Mauricio Pochettino on Friday, ahead of the two sides' Premier League tussle at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
City sits atop the table after winning its first six games and Tottenham, last season's runner-up, is four points back in second place with the only other unbeaten record in the division.
Pochettino's first win as a coach came against Guardiola, the Argentine's Espanyol stunning Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou in February 2009, and the City manager has been an admirer ever since.
"I don't think he's one of the best managers in England - he's one of the best football managers in the world," Guardiola told reporters at City's training centre in Manchester.
"I enjoy watching Tottenham. Not (just) right now - since last year. I think what he's doing is an amazing job. The way they play, I like a lot.
"He's aggressive without the ball, has a lot of quality with his players. The team is the (England) national team, with (Eric) Dier, (Dele) Alli, Harry Kane, (Kyle) Walker. He has a lot of quality."
Guardiola added: "If I had not been a coach, I would be just a fan. I would be a young coach who wants to become a coach, and I see Tottenham and I would say: 'I would like to play that way.'"
City won its first 10 games in all competitions under Guardiola, before failing to win for the first time in Wednesday's 3-3 Champions League draw away to Scottish champion Celtic.
The team has kept only four clean sheets under Guardiola to date, but he said the scoreline at Celtic Park had given a misleading impression.
"Of course to have a clean sheet is perfect, for the goalkeeper, for the team, but the most important thing is how many chances they (the opposition) create," he said.
"That is I think the basis. When they arrive three times, four times, that's good. Sometimes they arrive three times, four times and they don't score goals.
"Sometimes they arrive four times, like the last game against Celtic Glasgow - the second half they didn't have any chances, except the first goal in the first minute of the second half - and they score three goals. The problem is when they create more chances.
"For example, in the second half at Old Trafford (where City beat Manchester United 2-1), they created more chances than Celtic Glasgow.
"They didn't score one goal and Celtic Glasgow scored three goals. I try to see how many chances they create, how many chances we produce.
"That is the balance. But of course, we prefer not conceding goals. We're working on that."