Pep Guardiola stated on Tuesday that Manchester City has “recovered many things” following a trophyless campaign last season, promising more to come from his team.
The City manager has been actively rebuilding his squad over the past two transfer windows, with several long-serving players, including Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Ederson, leaving the club.
Guardiola adopted a defensive strategy in the recent match against Arsenal, which ended in a 1-1 draw, causing City to lose further ground on Premier League leaders Liverpool.
During a press conference ahead of the League Cup third-round clash against third-tier Huddersfield on Wednesday, Guardiola addressed the reactions to his tactics against the Gunners. He expressed pride in his team’s performance, stating, “We recovered many, many things that last season we missed. We have an incredible spirit.”
He acknowledged the challenge of maintaining their style of play throughout the season, saying, “Of course we cannot sustain for all the season to play in the way we played, and we don’t want it. But I give incredible power and credit to the opponents, Arsenal.”
Guardiola emphasized the importance of celebrating a point against a quality team like Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, who are expected to be strong contenders in the Premier League.
“Especially since (Manchester) United (a 3-0 win), we start to recover many things that define our teams for many, many years,” he added, reflecting on the previous season where he finished without a major trophy for the first time in eight years.
He concluded, “We can do better, yeah, we do it. We could do a few things, many decisions, yeah, we do it. And we have to play a little bit more with the opponent, yes, we will do it. But first comes the spirit that we have shown this week. And we have to take care, this kind of thing, like a father, a mother takes care of their son.”
Currently, City sits ninth in the Premier League after five matches, trailing champions Liverpool by eight points. The club has secured the League Cup four times under Guardiola.
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