PEP GUARDIOLA believes Manchester City can stay ‘a-herd’ of the rest during the 2020s.
The Etihad chief is convinced City were the Premier League’s team of the decade.
Guardiola claimed a pair of Premier League titles in the 2010sCredit: Getty – Contributor
And that is despite going up against some “huge elephants” — the phrase he used to describe the traditional Prem superpowers.
He acknowledges they face a huge ‘tusk’ to catch leaders Liverpool, telling his players they must: “Work harder, play better and pray.”
City kick off the new year against Everton on Wednesday with a 14-point deficit to Liverpool. But Guardiola insists people should remember what his club has achieved as a whole rather than their difficult last few months.
Guardiola said: “I think in the last decade this was the best team in terms of points, in terms of goals, in terms of everything — titles even.
“So congratulations Manchester City for that.
“They were fighting with huge elephants here in England — big, big clubs with the biggest history.
“For the past decade we were part of them. That is amazing. The big clubs here in England are always looking forward.
“We are going to try to analyse, not just in terms of the squad but as a club how we can do better.
“Hopefully, in the next decade this club can be here for more time.”
City scooped ten major domestic trophies during the decade, including four Premier League titles.
That was more than any other club.
Five of those pots have been won during Guardiola’s glittering 3½ years at the helm — though the manager acknowledges all the hard work that was done before he arrived.
He said: “When we analyse every single day here, what happened day-by-day gives us perspective in what happened in the last ten seasons. Especially when people from Abu Dhabi took over the club and bought good players, interesting managers and bigger stuff.
“I think we did it incredibly well.”
While 2019 ended with the Prem champs writing off their defence at the halfway stage, Guardiola prefers to point to the fact they made history.
They celebrated an unprecedented domestic Treble last year and also picked up the Community Shield.
And in 2017-18, when they won the title by a record margin of 19 points, they hit a league-high 106 goals across their 38 matches.
Spaniard Guardiola said: “People say, ‘How was 2019?’ Now people are saying it is a disaster. We won four titles in 2019, so it was an incredible year for us, we enjoyed it a lot.
“In some games in this last part of the year we have struggled a bit but it was an incredible year for us.
“Congratulations for all the people working here.”
Guardiola revealed plans are already under way as to how they can drag back Liverpool next season.
He insisted that, but for injuries, his side would have still been in the title race — while he has also been unhappy about some of the decisions that have gone against City.
Yet he also conceded Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are currently on the run of a lifetime, dropping just two points so far this season.
Asked how they can close the gap in the future, Guardiola said: “Work harder, play better and pray.
“But there are things we cannot control. We cannot control what a fantastic team like Liverpool have done so far and there are other issues you cannot control. When everyone is fit we can do it.
“What are the issues? You know what they are.”
Guardiola reiterated that City have no plans to buy this month — but said a revamp of the squad for next season was already being discussed among the club’s top brass.
He said: “We are talking about that and we know exactly more or less what we have to do next season.”
With defender Aymeric Laporte and winger Leroy Sane both close to returns following long-term injuries, City are set to go with what they have for the remainder of the campaign.
Guardiola added: “I took that decision. We couldn’t invest in the summer, why do you have to invest now?
“I like my squad. We have had problems with injuries.
“But we couldn’t invest in summer so why can we do it three or four months later. It makes no sense.
“That is why we will wait to the summer time.”
John Stones (hamstring) and David Silva (strain) are both set to play.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola says that Mikel Arteta is following his dream by becoming new head coach at Arsenal
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
