UNDER THE RADAR, OVER THE WORST
City shrug off bad start and Pep is now revelling in his new role as underdog
PEP GUARDIOLA reckons it suits Manchester City to go under the radar – while all the title talk is about Liverpool and Manchester United.
Arch- rival s Liverpool and United meet at Anfield on Sunday in the most eagerlyawaited game of the season, the first time in more than a decade they have fought together for the title.
Against that backdrop, City’s quiet progress has gone largely unheralded, despite Guardiola’s side having embarked on a 13game unbeaten run, with six wins on the trot.
Guardiola has put City ’s i mproved f orm down t o a return to the slick passing style for which he made his name with Barcelona.
“The only dif ference i s we run less,” he explained. “Without the ball you have to run, but with the ball you stay more in position and let the ball run, not you. That’s improved.”
After a difficult start to the season, City are starting to find their best form. A win against Brighton tonight will put them in striking distance of United and Liverpool with a game in hand.
Asked if it suited City to be under the radar, Guardiola said: “We didn’t play well i n the beginning to deserve to be up there. So, in the end, the people who analyse the games say we’re not candidates and others are. When we dropped points to West Brom at home and West Ham away, the public opinion said we didn’t deserve to be contenders.
“We t r i ed t o s ay t o t he players ‘ Be calm’ because t hi s i s a stran ge situation and let’s focus on Brighton. After that I can see what happens.
“What we want is to stay in the competitions. We’re in one final, in the next round of the FA Cup and Champions League, so hopefully we can arrive at the last few games and try to fight for the title.
“On day one we lost it a bit this season – my fault. The message was not clear, but we came back with the principles.
“I n p a r t i c ul a r, t h e players needed time to get back to their best condition after no pre- season.
“After good results and performances, it’s normal people visualise they can do it again in the way we did it in the past.”
City will have to t ake on Brighton w i t h o u t r e c o r d goalscorer Sergio A g u e r o , w h o s e return from injury i s on hold while he i solates after c o m i n g i n t o contact with a positive Covid19 case.
“The best part of th e s e a s o n i s coming up and hopefully we can have him for that,” added Guardiola.