Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the unpredictability of the Premier League has made him a better manager than he was in Spain or Germany.
The Spaniard is in his third season at Etihad and led them to the Premier League title with a record 100 points last season.
Guardiola delivered three La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies with Barcelona before leading Bayern Munich to three consecutive Bundesliga titles during his three years in Germany.
But the 47-year-old believes his managerial skills have improved further since coming to England.
“I am a better manager than I was in Germany, and I am a better manager now than I was in Barcelona by far, just for the fact of being there,” he said at the Peers Annual Lecture at Liverpool University on Wednesday.
“Now, I feel being here I am a better manager too because I learned to handle this incredible league in many circumstances.
Asked for his views on how the Premier League rated to other domestic competitions, Guardiola feels England’s top flight is the “most unpredictable”.
“It is the toughest one, for the amount of games, for the weather and the referees saying: ‘play (on), play (on), play (on)’ and the competitors, there are many. It is the only country that five or six [teams] can win the Premier League,” Guardiola added.
City return to Premier League action on Saturday away to West Ham holding a two-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table, the reigning champions also already boasting a goal difference of +31 after 12 games.
City’s Carabao Cup, Premier League and Community Shield wins in 2018 means Guardiola has now won 24 major trophies as a club manager, and he feels he will step into international management “sooner or later”.
“I would like to be an international manager in a national team,” he said.
“Sooner or later, it will happen because every three days I would like to be involved, but a little bit more calm, play more golf….now I do not have time to play.
“So yes, sooner or later it is going to happen, if I have a chance and some international team wants to come ‘knock knock’. We will see.”