Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola drew plenty of criticism for his tetchy postmatch appearances following Monday's 2-1 win over Burnley.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach looked as though he would make short work of winning the Premier League at the start of his first season in England, winning his first 10 matches in charge of City in all competitions.
But that run was followed by six games without victory, and subsequent defeats to Leicester City and Liverpool have been among a series underwhelming results in which tactical shortcomings have been exposed. Even some wins, such as the one over Burnley this week, have come despite uncertain performances.
Faced with an unexpected struggle so early into his stint in England, and scepticism in his footballing philosophy from some sections of the British media, Guardiola appears to be enduring one of the toughest spells of his nine-year career as a top-flight coach.
Here, ESPN FC's Barcelona and Bayern Munich correspondents recall Guardiola's most difficult spells during his time at those two clubs, and how he reacted.
BARCELONA (Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent)
Pep Guardiola's stubborn interview after Manchester City's win against Burnley is nothing new. Nor should it be anything for fans of the Premier League club to worry about.
The Catalan coach is so immersed in his work and so dedicated to doing things in a certain way that it's only normal that frustration and anger sometimes bubble to the service.
After picking up just one point from his first two games in charge of Barcelona in 2008, Guardiola admitted he felt completely alone. Eighty-six percent of people in an online poll at the time suggested they didn't believe in him and thought the more experienced Jose Mourinho should have got the job.
It took a pep talk from Andres Iniesta to help him re-focus, while he also received support from Johan Cruyff in a column in La Vanguardia.
Guardiola pulled through from that low and the success which followed dominated the era, but the trophies didn't necessarily make things easier.
The political climate which dominates Barcelona eventually wore him down, with a helping hand from then Real Madrid manager Mourinho.
It was Mourinho who prompted his most famous news conference while at Camp Nou. During a run of four Clasicos in 2011, the Portuguese pushed Guardiola to the limit.
"In the press room he's the f---ing boss," Guardiola said of Mourinho during a 45-minute rant which drew a round of applause from his players when he returned to the dining room ahead of the Champions League semifinal between Madrid and Barca.
Prior to that run of Clasicos, though, Guardiola gave a postmatch interview following a 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk remarkably similar to the one he gave after City's Burnley win.
Faced with abrupt, repetitive answers, TV3 journalist Jordi Grau just about managed to keep Guardiola's attention for over a minute.
"No, not really," Guardiola said, now out of the camera shot, as Grau finished the exchange by suggesting it didn't seem the Barca boss was in the mood to chat.
That was because he was annoyed with negative reports, especially from TV3, about Dmytro Chygrynskiy's brief spell at Barca.
Guardiola's all or nothing nature eventually led to his Camp Nou farewell. The politics, the media, the expectations, the winning all became too much for him.
"The reason is simple: four years is enough," he explained at the time. "I'm drained and I need to fill up. The demand has been very high and a manager must be strong."
BAYERN MUNICH (Mark Lovell, Bayern Munich correspondent)
In his debut season, Guardiola enjoyed a lengthy honeymoon period, transforming Bayern into a purring passing machine and sealing the earliest ever Bundesliga title in March 2014.
But by granting one of his own, Catalan author Marti Perarnau, access to all areas for the "Pep Confidential" biography, one sensed the local writers felt a little snubbed by the preferential treatment given to the Spanish journalist. Suddenly, the local press pack were less willing to wax so lyrically about the "new Messiah" dominating their Bundesliga.
Pep's refreshing honesty in admitting "the biggest mistake of his life and a monumental f--- up" (revealed in the Perarnau bio) could not save him a savaging after a 5-0 aggregate defeat in April 2014 at the hands of a Real Madrid side destined for La Decima.
However, the "Munich mole" incident -- when kicker cited an anonymous player who described the atmosphere under Pep as "not good" in January 2016 -- saw him at his most fiery. Indeed, it really pressed Pep's buttons as internal affairs from his dressing room reached the eager media's clutches.
Bayern continued to stack up muscle injuries during his tenure, so the journalists questioned Guardiola's need for control -- amid suggestions his training techniques and desire to rush players back into the fray too early could be factors.
Pep was clearly not amused and proceeded: "Who is this anonymous player? Where does this 'anonymous' play? Where? Is he a right-back or a central defender? Where does he play? Or maybe he's a member of staff? I don't know this anonymous player."
The meat of the kicker report concerned overweight players which also got Guardiola's bile flowing.
"Every trainer in the world controls diet, weight, players' sleep and training," he said. "That's a normal process. What's the problem?"
In total, Guardiola enquired "what's the problem?" on six occasions to the assembled media.
Watching his recent tetchiness at City, with injuries taking their toll like they did at Bayern, one senses the same frustration. Indeed, a cruel season-ending injury to midfield dynamo Ilkay Gundogan seems to have really soured Guardiola's mood -- potentially dealing a fatal blow to City's flimsy titles hopes. That is a problem.