Guardiola remains guarded on Manchester City’s title prospects despite 11-point lead
Manchester City head to Swansea City tonight bidding for a 15th successive Premier League victory, but Pep Guardiola does not think their strong start to the season guarantees they will end the campaign as champions.
City equalled Arsenal’s streak of 14 wins on the trot on Sunday with their 2-1 victory at Manchester United and they will take the record outright with the three points at struggling Swansea.
But despite their impressive run, with the side yet to lose in the league this season with a tally of 14 wins and one draw from their 15 games, Guardiola does not believe their 11-point advantage at the top of the table from United is one they can afford to relax on.
“Obviously in the future we can drop points, the league will be open again,” Guardiola told reporters in his news conference yesterday.
“People will think we have already won the Premier League, I don’t think that.”
Having won at nearest rivals United and Chelsea during their run of triumphs, City could be forgiven for thinking that they have nothing to fear domestically.
But Guardiola dismissed this notion and said the important thing for him and his players was to look forward, rather than reflect on the past, starting with the trip to Swansea.
“We have proven we can do good things on the biggest stages but it is now in the past,” he added. “That does not give you the guarantee that you can do it in the future.”
Guardiola did add he was proud of how his side had handled a hectic start to the season, having dominated the league, won their Uefa Champions League group, and reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
He felt their run held up well in comparison to last season’s champions Chelsea, who did not play European football on their way to taking top spot in the league.
“Last season Chelsea played one game a week over the whole season and won the league,” he said.
“Now we have played so many games so we are really happy and proud of what we’ve done so far.”
Guardiola added that City had given a report to the English Football Association, which is looking into reports of a clash between players and officials from the two sides after Sunday’s Manchester derby in the tunnel area.
The City manager denied that his side had provoked the incident by excessively celebrating their success and said that they had marked their achievement of victory in a manner similar to other occasions earlier in the season.
“We won a derby against Manchester United, one of the best rivals we have,” he said.
“We celebrated. I think if United win a derby, they celebrate. But where? Inside the locker room. That’s what we tried to do and we did ... It wasn’t anything exceptional.
“It was what we did last season in the past and what we will do in the future.”
Guardiola added he had supported his side wanting to rejoice together.
“I encouraged the players to celebrate the victories but of course inside the locker room. We have huge respect for our opponents – not just for Manchester United, all the opponents.
“When we lose you have to accept the defeat, when we win we try to celebrate. We did it at home many times this season.”