CITY SLICKERS
▶ Guardiola’s record breakers
“The record will be broken one day, we will lose games,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said after beating Arsenal last weekend.
In doing so they set another record – 18 wins in a row, extending their record for the most consecutive wins in English football.
Preston North End back in 189192 had set the record of 14 wins in a row, a feat that was matched by Arsenal in the 1987-88 season, almost a century later.
Neither had come close to being matched before Guardiola’s Man City side picked up the pace this season.
“I’m surprised and impressed when everyone is suffering in this world, what is happening today, everyone is dropping points, and we were consistent for the last two months,” Guardiola said after beating Arsenal, but pointing to their earlier achievements this season.
“We cannot forget that we won at Anfield, against Tottenham, at Goodison Park and here: incredibly tough games in this period. That’s why I’m more than pleased to win just 1-0. People talk and talk about the records but to do this you have to win this type of game many, many, many times.”
“We have to rotate the team and we will have to do it again and again. We don’t have time for anything: just to recover and prepare, mentally, as strong a team as possible. But of course we cannot deny, it is 39 points to play, 10 in front, and we need the victories to be champions.”
They should be champions. They are 10 points clear of city rivals Manchester United in second and have played the same amount of games, 25.
That is nothing new for Guardiola or City, of course.
Guardiola has won the lot in his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. City have become used to getting their name engraved on silverware in recent seasons since the club was invested in, attracting the like of Guardiola and the players to match his ambitions.
The Blues actually surpassed Arsenal and Preston North End earlier this year after beating Swansea City in the FA Cup.
That was a record 15th win in a row in domestic competitions.
“It shows how special these players are,” Guardiola said after beating the Swans.
“And we think of the next one. I know we broke a record of all time. To do what we have done so far is quite remarkable.
“The record will be broken for sure, because sports is like this, but it means a lot, to do what we have done in the winter time and Christmas time is quite remarkable.
“It is the toughest time, but what is important is the way we are still playing with our consistency.”
City have not been beating in England since November.
“When everyone is suffering in this world, all the teams in the league are dropping points, we were consistent over the past two months,” he said after progressing in the FA Cup, a trophy they have become accustomed to challenging for.
The same could be said of the English Premier League not that Guardiola is counting his chickens.
“When you win a lot of games everyone wants to beat you and it is tricky,” Guardiola said. “I have not seen that the team is thinking of the table, we have spoken about that. We are not here to defend our lead, it is all about three points, three points.
“There are 42 points still to fight for, we are in the middle of February. Now we rest for a few days, there are so many games.”
The EPL title might be regarded as something of a formality but the quest for City is European domination, something that Guardiola acheived with Barcelona.
“We will, of course, not just be judged on the way we play but the titles we win. That is the truth. It is as simple as that,” Guardiola said.
“Last year was an extraordinary one for us but people say, ‘But you didn’t win the Champions League.’ That is why I will be judged, if we don’t win it in my final period here, that I will be a failure here. I know that.
“But I enjoy working with my players and my players still win a lot of games. Winning a certain way is what helps you to win the titles and we believe we can play that way. We will see at the end.” We will indeed. City play German side Borussia Monchengladbach over two legs in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 – the first leg was midweek – and they are in the Carabao Cup final and last 16 of the FA Cup.
Praise for Guardiola’s side has come from the unlikeliest of sources.
“It almost became too easy for Manchester City at Arsenal,” former Manchester United defender Gary Neville said in his role as a pundit on Sky Sports after the Blues beat the Gunners.
“I used the Floyd Mayweather expression, because it was like City had won the first three rounds, got in front, and then just jabbed for the next nine rounds.
“To be able to do that is special. I remember when we played games away in the Premier League, in many games that we won 1-0, it was always an onslaught in the last 10 minutes.
“But Pep Guardiola’s side win games without that onslaught. It’s really special, and the bravery in that defence is fantastic.” Defense and attack, in fairness. Now silverware awaits as does the possiblity of beating more records, which they already did with 10 consectuive English Premier League wins since the start of 2021.
City can challenge the very best in Europe too.
Bayern Munich, the current European champions, won 23 games in a row in a period that stretched across the last two seasons while Real Madrid, no strangers to European success themselves, won 22 in a row in the 2014-15 season.
Where will City stop?