'Guardiola by far the best of this era' - Wellens

Pep Guardiola has won 39 major trophies as a head coach with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is the greatest coach of his era, says Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens.

Former Barcelona midfielder Guardiola has won 39 major trophies in a career spanning 16 full seasons in management, including six Premier League titles at City.

Wellens' Orient side welcome the seven-time FA Cup winners to Brisbane Road in the fourth round on Saturday.

The League One side have been on a remarkable run which has seen them taken to extra time in every tie, and they knocked out Championship strugglers Derby County on penalties in the previous round.

And Wellens, who has won two League Two titles and the EFL Trophy in seven years as a head coach, believes Guardiola's coaching ability is unmatched in the current generation.

"I think Jurgen Klopp is an incredible manager and he would have won a lot of Premier Leagues if it wasn't for Pep - he won one," Wellens, 44, told BBC Radio London.

"So yeah, for me, in this era Pep's by far the best in English football, probably the world."

Having won the Premier League for an unprecedented four years in a row, Guardiola's side have struggled at times this season.

They are fifth in the table and go into this weekend's game on the back of a 5-1 defeat at Arsenal.

The clubs' cup runs so far

An underwhelming set of results in the group phase of the revamped UEFA Champions League has left City needing to beat current holders Real Madrid to reach the last 16.

But they were razor sharp as they thrashed Salford City 8-0 in the FA Cup third round last month.

Orient's own cup run began two rounds prior with a penalty shootout victory at non-league Boreham Wood after the game had finished 2-2 after extra time.

Goalkeeper Josh Keeley then scored an incredible 99th-minute equaliser to take their second-round match against Oldham Athletic to extra time.

Dan Agyei then atoned for an earlier missed penalty to seal the win in time added on at the end of the extra 30 minutes to send the London club through in dramatic fashion.

Wellens' side have made a strong start to 2025, losing just one game in League One, and currently occupy the final play-off place.

He said he had told the players to enjoy the match against City, as well as trying not to bombard them with information beforehand.

"We want to make sure we put in a performance that's as enjoyable as we can possibly make it, make it uncomfortable and try to put the pressure on them," he said.

"[Erling] Haaland might play, but [Divin] Mubama might play, so it's two different profile of players. [Kevin] De Bruyne might play, [James] McAtee might play so you're not just fighting against their system and the way they're going to play, the personnel can range as well.

"They're all talented, they're all brilliant players. But we're trying to give the right balance of information to our players - we're not overloading them too much but we're not neglecting what we feel is the most important stuff."

Richie Wellens' Leyton Orient are sixth in League One