Pep Guardiola is on a learning curve. After three interviews in his first week in charge of Manchester City, it is clear that the world's most sought after coach is not prepared to offer any guarantees of success.
The man who rejected offers - in one form or another - from every top Premier League club says he is in England to see if he can rise to the challenge.
On Sunday he was presented to fans, and while his intention to "hug and kick arses" took the headlines, he was merely explaining how he would get to know his players. On Monday, in his interview with Noel Gallagher, he said he was here to prove his doubters wrong, but only by finding out how to tame the beast of English football. On Friday, sat in front of the world's press for the first time, he once again gave the impression that he is just embarking on a long journey of discovery.
He is here to see what his players can do, to see if he can play beautiful football on an ugly pitch. He has clearly done his homework: he twice referred to "Boxing Day", a very English term for the day after Christmas day, and namedropped "Big Sam", his first competitive opponent. Staples of the English game.
Beyond that, there were no promises, no assurances, that City are about to take the world game by storm.
Eight years ago he sat in the Barcelona hot seat for the first time with an air of confidence unusual for a coach with one year of experience in the Spanish third division. He explained that within a couple of months those who counted that inexperience against him would start to change their minds.
At Bayern Munich three years ago he was quieter, less brash, but insisted "I accept this huge challenge with no problems. That's why I'm a coach."
Here, he was more open. Perhaps a coach with a lesser CV would've seemed less convincing, too: despite having delivered upon his statements with his past two clubs, achieving success at both Barca and Bayern, he was quiet here, somewhat understated.
Whereas Jose Mourinho, fresh from the biggest disaster of his career, sat in front of the cameras at Old Trafford on Tuesday giving the impression that he is undoubtedly the right man to resurrect Manchester United, Guardiola was humble about his own prospects.
"That's why I'm here," he said, echoing his statements from earlier in the week. "To prove myself. I was in Barcelona where I had absolutely everything, the best player ever and one team where most of the players grew up from the academy so I knew them.
"Bayern Munich, a club who have a lot of experience as well for many, many things. Here is another test for my career. It would've been comfortable to stay where I was, [but] I feel that it is the right moment to come here and prove myself. If I'm able to convince these players the way we want, and show a level at the end then we'll see."
Away from the central point, there was everything else you would expect of a Pep Guardiola blueprint. He espoused value of the club's youth academy, said fans would feel proud of the players' efforts, and shied away from mind games.
Mourinho, to his credit, insisted this week he had no intention to do battle with his old adversary. That was a stance Guardiola was only too happy to agree with: "I think Jose said pretty well that it is not about him or me."
There was little talk of transfers, either. At Barca he was emphatic about Ronaldinho - "if he feels that he wants to go back to being the player that he was, he would be here" - and outlined their need for a No.9, but his plans for City will remain under wraps for now.
"I'm sorry, maybe here is not the right place to explain about the new players," he said. "For respect for the players, for the other clubs, but I realise immediately how good the journalists in England are and of course you are going to discover what is our target and what we want for the next season. We are going to try and move a little bit the squad, and we are going to try."
Those targets are indeed in the public domain. John Stones and Leroy Sane are expected to arrive shortly, Torino's Bruno Peres is on the list of targets alongside Leonardo Bonucci, while talk of moves for Toni Kroos and even Thiago Alcantara, Pep's great on-pitch example, rumbles on.
Whoever City can lure to the Etihad Stadium this summer, they will be charged with taking this club to the next level. Guardiola may not be able - or not willing - to tell us just yet if it will be successful, but he has worked hard on a strategy to put Manchester City at the forefront of English and European football. So hard, in fact, that Blues CEO Ferran Soriano had to tell him in June - before his contract even started - take a vacation.
Guardiola, then, has set the tone for his reign. There was no gesticulation, there were no grand promises, there were no barbs. There was simply a determination to get to work and prove to the world why Manchester City believe they have hired the best coach in the world.
...
- Goal