Getting used to winning is what makes Pep Guardiola the legend he is. Not anyone wins 39 titles and dominates the ranking of the most successful trainers in history.
But the problem is that this is very little experience in defeats, little training to deal with failure and an inevitable reputation of bad loser.
This is how Pep Guardiola describes after the FA Cup final, which he arrived as a favorite thanks to the great payroll of Manchester City, but in which he was surpassed with authority by a modest rival as Crystal Palace, which was an example of effectiveness and resistance and thus imposed 2-0.
The incident with Henderson exposed the loser DT
Once the commitment was finished, the season for the 'citizens' was consumed in a single term: failure.
Without competitiveness in Premier League, eliminated in the first change of the Champions League and Efl Cup, it seemed that the FA Cup was the lifeboat for a project that remains a billonario but that, in the last year, simply shipwrecked.
A good summary was the coach's attitude at the end of the commitment to Henderson, the hero of the first title in the entire history of Crystal Palace. “We win it to a great one,” said Colombian Daniel Muñoz, chosen MVP of the party.
But without a doubt the role of his goalkeeper was key, saving at least six clear goal occasions. In the end, when he approached Guardiola to shake his hand, as the winners usually do with the losers in English football, he received a door.
What were said on the court?
The Daily Mail made a reading of the DT's lips and found that he told Henderson: “You didn't deserve this. A shame.” It was his protest when considering that the goalkeeper had lost time deliberately. Three times the goalkeeper “10 minutes” showed with his hands, alluding to the added time that occurred in Wembley.
This was the time of tension between the two:
I still remember the sportsmanship lessons that Guardiola was giving when he won. But his true skin comes out when he loses. pic.twitter.com/6kPZRjnasJ
– ᴍᴀɴᴜ. (@Esnomanu) May 17, 2025
In the end, Henderson gave his version: “I told him that he had had 10 minutes as I wanted. I just walked his hand, but obviously I think I was disappointed for the waste of time. I said: 'You got the 10 minutes you wanted.” Guardiola preferred to avoid statements.
And that is why they now point it out because when he wins he is the king of microphones. Some reminded him that in the last market he spent about 200 million euros but that his project crumbled for a single player, Rodri, the Golden Ball, nothing less. An injury left the team in two and not even Guardiola managed to refloat it. Now, if FA investigations result in the sanction to Manchester City, the panorama will be even worse. He had a lot of Guardiola when he faced this last defeat.
