I BELIEVE WE CAN FLY
Pep: We will get better.. I just need to convince the players
PEP GUARDIOLA has told his Manchester City players to “believe”, if they want to keep progressing. The City boss is delighted with the past week as City improved on last season’s poor record against their top-six rivals by thumping Liverpool 5-0. They also breezed past Feyenoord 4-0 to record their first Champions League away win under Guardiola. But the Spaniard insists they can do even better if they “believe” during the most difficult moments in matches. “Of course I am so satisfied,” said Guardiola. “But my feeling is that you can improve everything and to try to convince them that they can do that. “Last season we were not able to win many games against the top five, top six in the Premier League. “We didn’t win one game away in the Champions League. “First of all, I start with that, to believe. To believe we can play good football, but also that we can beat them, we can compete, even in the Champions League. “That is the best I can offer or what I would like to give to my players, more than the tactical issues. I think every player believes, but sometimes in a bad situation or moment we were not able to overcome the situation. “You have to do that. You have to have a strong mentality so the players have the personality to play on the big stage.” Guardiola can see glimpses of his great Barcelona and Bayern Munich sides in City and says they must emulate them by winning matches like today’s trip to unbeaten Watford. City won just three of their eight games after playing in the Champions League last season and the manager says the elite sides know how to perform in every match. “Watford, for example, is a big test for us,” he said. “The big clubs win these games and that is the big difference. The teams I left at Barcelona and Bayern, and the other big teams, like Real Madrid and Juventus, in this kind of situation, with a game every three days, they are there. “They make a professional performance, score a goal in the right moment and win the game. That is the process we have to discover. “When we are able to do that, then I will feel we have made a step forward to become a better team. “Last season, we could compete in the games against the top six, but we were not able to win. “That is the gap we have to close this season.”