Manchester United legend Eric Cantona says he “loves” Jose Mourinho but would prefer the team were coached by Man City boss Pep Guardiola.
United are second in the Premier League and, despite this week’s surprise defeat at Basel, top of their group in the Champions League.
Cantona said attacking football was part of United’s tradition and feels there’s another manager that could bring that quality to Old Trafford.
“I love Mourinho as a manager and I said it before he arrived in Manchester, he is very intelligent, clever, he takes all the pressure on himself,” Cantona told BBC 5 Live.
“He has a lot of charisma, has won a lot of things and will win a lot of things.
“But, the football I played, and [Sir Alex] Ferguson played, Matt Busby before, it was very creative.
“But today, in football, I loved [Johan] Cruyff when he was manager at Barcelona, I loved Ajax in the ’70s, I grew up with this kind of football and the football we played with Ferguson was very creative and more Manchester United.
“It’s why I prefer the way Guardiola plays and I would prefer to have him as manager of Manchester United.”
Guardiola appears to have finally settled in the style he made so successful at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and Cantona cannot understand why United’s board would not have wanted him in red.
“It’s more logical,” he added. “I cannot understand why Manchester United take a manager who plays in a defensive way but is a great manager, a great man and I still love him but I prefer to watch a game when Barcelona play.
“I don’t watch Manchester City because it’s Manchester City but I would love to play for a team managed by Guardiola.”
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