Pep Guardiola spoke about next Sunday’s Premier League game with Arsenal after Manchester City cut their lead to six, with a game in hand
Pep Guardiola said that Manchester City have ‘grown up a lot’ in the last month as he challenged them to focus on their performance against Arsenal next week rather than the result. The Blues thrashed Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to take advantage of Arsenal’s slip on Saturday and set up a box-office match at the Etihad next week.
City still realistically have to defeat Arsenal in that game on Sunday to stand a chance of beating them to the Premier League title. However, they have beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea in their last three games with three clean sheets and have deserved to win with performances that have put their March disappointment in the Premier League and Champions League behind them.
“The only thing that saves us in 38 games in the Premier League is the way you play,” said Guardiola. “In the Champions League, the keeper has to save it, the strikers have to score a goal, the referees are involved amazingly. The moment, 10 v 11 for 75 minutes and we are out. Champions League is not about just about how you play, you have to defend really well.
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“The Premier League is another business, it is how you grow as a team and how you play good. If you are winning, winning, winning and not playing good, you are not going to win. You cannot hide behind the results. Results helps for the mood, for the confidence and it is an important medicine but you have to reflect what can you do better. In the last month, the team grew up a lot.”
Guardiola is still coaching a new team how to get over the line after three transfer windows over the last two years that have transformed the squad and seen a new generation. Their Carabao Cup victory over Arsenal last month was the first trophy for many of the players in the squad, and they still have to learn how to get over the line in the Premier League.
Three points over Arsenal would take City to within three points of top spot with a game in hand, but the manager wants the team to forget about the consequences of the game. Instead, they should just focus on the principles of playing that have been drilled into them all season and everything else will take care of itself.
“Winning once or twice is okay but during nine years being there all the time (except last season) defines us a little bit. It’s not just me or one player or two players, it’s all the structure to say what you have to do. Winning is difficult but winning a lot in the modern time is so complicated and we have done it,” he said.
“On Sunday with our people at 4.30pm we have the opportunity to prove ourselves again if we are able to do it. It’s not about just winning the Premier League but it’s about how you are in the game are better than the opponent and winning the game being better than the opponent and helping us through the game in the way we compete in all the details.
“We can win one game, and after that in that mindset it’s not the pressure that you have to win and if you don’t win you’re not going to win the Premier League. Forget about it, if you don’t win you don’t win. It’s how we have to play to win one single game. We have seven days to prepare it.”
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