City to go full steam ahead: Pep
HISTORY SETTERS After posting English record for most wins in a row, Man City manager says their won’t be any letup
LONDON: The perfectionist’s streak that runs through Pep Guardiola demanded he should declare after another recordbreaking triumph on Wednesday there would be absolutely no possibility of complacency now derailing Manchester City.
Fresh from overseeing an outright record for successive Premier League victories — 15 and counting this season — with another 4-0 masterclass at Swansea City, Guardiola sounded almost affronted at the idea the leaders might lose their focus.
“That is not going to happen,” the Spaniard told the BBC, when asked if a slacking off might materialise with City now 11 points clear and their nearest chasers all seemingly becoming more resigned to it being a hopeless pursuit.
“We are so demanding for our players. We can lose, we can drop points but complacency never happened in the past, the present or the future. Winning 15 games in a row gives us a lot of confidence,” Guardiola said.
Having broken the single-season record with a 14th consecutive win in the Manchester derby at United on Sunday, win number 15 beat the top-flight landmark in the Premier League era set by Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, spanning two seasons in 2002.
Yet what has evidently delighted the Spaniard more than anything has been the way City seemed to have carved out their triumphs in the same kaleidoscopic manner he fashioned previously at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“If people are happy watching us, that is the best gift,” he said, making it sound like an early Christmas present for English soccer fans.
Among the delights he has served up, perhaps nothing has been finer than the way Guardiola has brought David Silva, his marvellous Spanish midfield conductor, into full bloom.
With his double against Swansea, Silva has now been involved in 13 Premier League goals in 17 matches this season — five goals and eight assists — which is already more than he managed in the whole of 2016-17.
unsung hero of City’s midfield and has got into goals of late having scored four in the last three games. His ability to thread defences and his link-up play with De Bruyne is one of the highlights of City's season. Beat Bournemouth 1-2 Beat Liverpool 5-0 Beat Watford 0-6 Beat Crystal Palace 5-0 Beat Chelsea 0-1 managers would have the gumption to drop his top-scorer in a crunch match but Guardiola did exactly that against Man United by benching Sergio Aguero and came up victors. afford that luxury as most of his forwards and attacking midfielders are scoring at will and it shows in City’s scoring patterns which has seen 10 players getting on the score sheet. While Aguero still tops the chart with 10 goals, Raheem Sterling (nine goals), Gabriel Jesus (8), Leroy Sane (6) have been among the goals as well. Not to forget Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva who have scored five each.
goals and eight assists, the
Belgian has emerged as City’s main player this season. Coach Guardiola calls the playmaker ‘world class’ because of his ability to deliver in tough matches. flexibility and that’s what the Englishman offers. He can play on either of the wings and has been effective while playing centrally as well. His late runs and ability to find space in the box has got him nine goals this season. Beat Stoke 7-2 Beat Burnley 3-0 Beat West Brom 2-3 Beat Arsenal 3-1 Beat Leicester 0-2 2017 2002 1905 1905 1951 Bundesliga Bayern Serie A La Liga Spain Ligue 1 Manchester City Arsenal Bristol City Manchester United Preston North End Inter Milan 2006-07 Real Madrid 2016 Barcelona Bordeaux 2013-14 2010-11 2009 Beat Huddersfield 1-2 Beat Southampton 2-1 Beat West Ham 2-1 Beat Man United 1-2 Beat Swansea 0-4 Liverpool 0 West Brom 0 Man United 1 Bournemouth 0 Newcastle 0 Everton 1 Southampton 1 Leicester 4 Swansea 0 Manchester City 4 Tottenham 2 Brighton 0 West Ham 0 Arsenal 0 Man City 17 16 1 0 Man United17 12 2 3 Chelsea 17 11 2 4 Tottenham 17 9 4 4 Liverpool 17 8 7 2 41 49 26 38 17 35 16 31 14 31