Anderlecht head coach Vincent Kompany has grown tired of constant comparisons between himself and Pep Guardiola, his former manager at Manchester City.
After 11 trophy-laden years at City, Kompany returned to his boyhood club as player-manager ahead of last season, but could only lead the Belgian giants to an eighth-place finish.
Kompany retired as a player prior to the current season to focus on his managerial duties, but has only managed to get Anderlecht to seventh place with 14 league matches gone.
Amid some criticism of his club's style and results, Kompany has hit out at critics whom he believes have unrealistic expectations.
"You have to stop comparing with Guardiola because I didn't come here saying that Anderlecht was going to become Manchester City," Kompany told Eleven Sports. "I never said it but it will stick to me even if I never say it. It bothers me that we're getting too close to Pep because it's totally inaccessible. It makes the club look like a naive club, but we are not on the pitch.
"No one is talking about reproducing anything. Pep went to Barcelona to draw from [Johan] Cruyff and the Anderlecht I knew and the academy from which all the players came from draw on Ajax in terms of DNA, but it's not good for the club to bring this debate back to that and ultimately it doesn't reflect what we're trying to do.
"It's the Anderlecht identity that interests us and that's it. It will be different from other clubs and we have to accept it."
Guardiola has established himself as one of the world's top managers, winning a plethora of trophies during stints with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City.
Though Kompany has said he won't automatically try to emulate Guardiola's style, he admitted that like his former boss, he wants to play a more proactive, possession-based kind of football.
"It's always like that in football. When Pep wins everyone will want to play like him," the 34-year-old added. "It's like religion, one wants to prove it's right about everything and the other wants to prove it's wrong about everything. There is no absolute truth. I know a way of playing and principles that correspond to what Anderlecht has been historically. It should not be forgotten.
"What will I gain if I ask my players to fall back, play long balls and create a defensive block? Even if I win the title, my journey is useless."
