Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City not to be sucked in by the “caviar” of being serial Premier League champions as he was after winning four successive Spanish titles as a Barcelona midfielder in the 90s.
The manager was unhappy with his players – “a happy flowers team” – after Thursday’s 4-2 comeback win over Tottenham, his side having trailed 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium. He identified a complacency that caused them to lack the desire to press and fight for each other.
Between 1990 and 94 Guardiola was a part of the Barça team that claimed consecutive La Liga titles but he felt this sated his desire. “I won four Liga titles in Spain when I was a player, four in a row, and the fifth [season] was not the same and the sixth was not the same. I was not starving enough. [Too much] caviar, [Real] Madrid beat me,” he said. “I understand [the players] but I am here to [motivate them]. The chairman knows that.
“I want to be here but if I lose the team, I cannot be here. We are second in the table, we are not 25 points behind Arsenal, still we are there – 57 points still to play [for].” Of his side’s prospects of claiming another title on current form, he said: “In this way – how we played – no chance.”
City have dropped eight points from their last six games and are five behind Arsenal before Wolves’s visit on Sunday. Guardiola cited the concession of goals in last Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United and the 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Liverpool in Christmas week.
“The club has to move [back in the right direction],” he said. “These goals we gave them – unacceptable against Liverpool, unacceptable against United. We don’t have [that certain] something.”
Guardiola had praise for Jack Grealish, Nathan Aké and Manuel Akanji for their display against Spurs. “Have you seen Jack Grealish, to go down and tackle and every time do it? Nathan, for example, or Manu to win the duels there? Every game has to be like that,” he said. “That is how we did 15 wins in a row, 18 wins in a row [in previous seasons].
“Sorry for the haters, we will be in the history books for the Premier League, for what we have done. It is undeniable how good we have done, the consistency of playing at that good level. But that is the past, now it is here.”
Guardiola was asked if he will cheer on City’s local rivals United when they play Arsenal later on Sunday. “It is not about that,” he said. “If they lose against United, [it doesn’t matter] because if we play like this we are not going to catch them. We have to change ourselves. ”
He pointed to Mikel Arteta’s team as an example of what City are lacking. “They have everything, all the pieces. They defend 10 players in the box, five in the back, six in the back, good transitions, win duels and look at how they celebrate a goal, how they talk, look at each other, communicate. This is football. We don’t have it.”
