Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says opponents no longer scared of his side
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the team are ready to move on in a way they haven’t before, which would put City in a Champions League position if he can’t find a solution.
Guardiola doesn’t quite say City have completely lost their “fear factor” when facing Chelsea at home on Saturday.
But as he assesses a torrent season, he zeroes in on goal change, suggesting opponents aren’t as intimidated as they once were and teams are pressing his team more.
“Everyone comes to the Etihad and stays,” he said. “The first team I saw was Neil Warnock at Cardiff. Everyone is like that now Do it. Everybody comes here, it’s okay, man.
“They just jump to Ederson or Stefan (Ortega).
Manchester City currently sit fifth in the Premier League – 12 points behind leaders Liverpool. By the end of 2024 They only won one of 13 games Now find themselves having to beat Club Brugge on Wednesday just to clinch the Champions League playoff spot after being beaten by Paris St-Germain this week.
Although the city has £123m worth of new talent Guardiola is available for Chelsea’s Premier League encounter and does not believe he will solve his problem.
He dismissed those who focus on run statistics as evidence of whether a team is performing at its highest level, instead pointing to his team’s usage rate not being good enough.
“Pace is important but against PSG we ran more runs than they did,” he said. “Our problem is the ball. That’s what we’ve missed this season.
“If you have the ball and can’t pass it to your partner correctly, everything is so difficult.”
Chelsea will be higher on the table when the return meeting comes as Manchester City win 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend of the season, with Guardiola’s side Will be just a little bit of Bournemouth.
Guardiola believes he will be eligible for next season’s Champions League given the injury costing him trophies, giving him the Ballon d’Or D’Or D’Or) and leaves him with a suitable central defender this weekend, excluding new additions Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov.
He also said there was value in Mourinho’s famous statement that finishing second behind Manchester United in 2017-18 was one of the greatest achievements of his career.
“There are many seasons with many difficulties,” Guardiola said. “How do you get up? How do you stay there?
“I remember Jose. I don’t know the reality at Manchester United, but he said finishing second that season was his biggest success. I totally understand.”
