In a classically cutting way, or an unwitting way, it was brutal from Mauricio Pochettino.
“He (Guardiola) was part of the big success at Barcelona and I never said it was the ‘Lionel Messi team’.”
No, but now Pep and everyone else knows that is what you probably thought. That is what a lot of people thought. You never said it then but you are saying it now.
Pep’s ‘Harry Kane team’ line has given you the excuse you’ve been hankering after for a long time.
Pochettino would not be the only contemporary to believe Guardiola has been unduly blessed throughout his managerial career.
But it adds a new layer to a rivalry that stretches back to their playing days and took a grip when they became coaches.
Pochettino’s first gig was at Espanyol, his first game against Guardiola’s, or Messi’s, Barcelona.
That first leg of a Copa del Rey tie ended goalless and Barca won the second 3-2 but Pochettino then fashioned an unlikely win in the Nou Camp in the league.
It was in early 2009 and it was the last time Barcelona were beaten by Espanyol.
In that season, Pochettino, who only took over in January, helped Espanyol finish 10th in La Liga.
Barcelona won the title with a nine-point margin. They also won the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
With Messi at his disposal, Guardiola could do no wrong.
Pochettino and Guardiola compete on slightly more even terms nowadays but not on level terms, as the Tottenham manager was keen to stress.
Never mind the cracking spat over the Harry Kane remark, this was more telling of Pochettino’s belief that Pep has it easy.
“The difference these days in the Premier League is that there are clubs, like City and United, who sign who they want and when they want,” he said. “Then there are big teams, like us, who sign when we can and who we can.”
Which is almost true. City and United, for all their wealth, would still find it difficult to take a first-choice player from Barcelona or Real Madrid. Guardiola, for all his financial advantage over Pochettino and others, does have to be a little creative with his signings.
For example, Kyle Walker carries a risk, Bernardo Silva is not a guaranteed success.
You take Pochettino’s point, though, and that’s why this extremely faint idea that Messi could move to Manchester City must be a non-starter from Pep’s point of view.
It is surely all but a given Messi eventually signs the £500,000-a-week contract on the Nou Camp table.
But if, for some unexpected reason, he did fancy a move, what would Pep get out of signing him?
As solid a guarantee of success possible, for sure.
The thrill, shared by all of us, of watching him up close.
But the Manchester City ‘project’ is Guardiola’s.
No matter what he has spent so far, this thrilling City remains the Guardiola team.
If the wildly fanciful somehow became reality, it would have a different name.
And surely, at this stage of his career, Pep does not want to be just a part of the Lionel Messi team.