Bitter experience keeps Guardiola grounded

BRIGHTON, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will not get carried away after a 2- 0 opening day win at promoted Brighton as he is still stung by the bitter experiences of last season.

A year ago City won their first 10 games in all competitions, beginning with a victory at home to Sunderland, yet finished the campaign empty-handed.

“Last season we were favourites too,” said Guardiola. “I sat here after the Sunderland game and you said: ‘You are the favourites, you are the most beautiful, the most handsome, and nicest guys in the League’. And you know what happened? After that, Chelsea killed us.

“So okay, we accept what people say. Whether we are favourites or not is your job to say, not ours. I cannot control it. But I am used to that. I was manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich so I can handle that situation.

“Last season we were third and people said it was a disaster. We will try to improve. Last season we were a humble team and an honest team. We played with the best intentions and it was not enough. We’ll try this season. If not, then next season.”

City won far more convincingly on Saturday than the score suggests, even though they had to wait until the 70th minute to open the scoring through Sergio Aguero.

Five minutes later an own goal by Lewis Dunk ended the contest.

That was a relief after the uncertain starts made by title rivals Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, and his new three-man defence was seldom in difficulty.

“The first game of a season is always complicated,” he said.

“We spoke about that – we saw what happened with Liverpool and Watford, with Chelsea - that’s the Premier League.

“Here every game is a battle, and from my experience - in Barcelona too - it’s difficult against a newlypromoted club. They have the passion, the fans, they have no pressure.

“It’s difficult but we did it. We were stable as a team and conceded just one chance after a corner and after that nothing happened. We controlled the game.” — AFP