PEP’S HAVING A TON OF FUN
100-goal City boss will keep up title surge intensity
PEP GUARDIOLA has warned that Manchester City will not run out of steam as they rip up the record books in their relentless title pursuit.
City are on an unprecedented 17- match winning run in the Premier League ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Newcastle, having dropped only two points all season.
With a staggering 55 points and 60 goals by the halfway point, Guardiola’s side are on course to smash records set by Chelsea in 2005 (95 points) and 2010 (103 goals).
Guardiola has already beaten his best winning run at Barcelona, and they are closing on the 19-game record he set at Bayern Munich in 2013-14. But the Spaniard refuses to get carried away.
‘It means since August we have won a lot of games and that’s why we are happy,’ he said. ‘Our lives are better when we win, it’s simple like that. But I’m not going to sleep thinking about if I am going to break a record from my time at Bayern Munich. It’s about Newcastle. I’ll sit down with my staff with our laptops, try to discover what they do and keep our pace and intensity with and without the ball.’
City are the first team in the top tier to reach a century of goals in a calendar year since Liverpool 35 years ago and their 13-point lead over Manchester United is the biggest at Christmas in top-flight history, but Guardiola has told his side to use their high standards as a yardstick to stay focused.
‘Forget about the table and focus on what we have to do, that is the best way,’ he added. ‘Offensively, defensively, individually, like a group. That is the only way to be focused on what we have to do.’
HE will bring in fresh legs in their next three games against Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Watford but is not worried about burn-out. ‘Fatigue? I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘I said that many times, even last season. We ran a lot last season as well. As a manager, I’m good with that. I am able to let them run at a high intensity. That is a quality of the players I had in Barcelona, Bayern and now here.
‘Gabriel Jesus didn’t play against Bournemouth. He played 120 minutes against Leicester (in the Carabao Cup) and he’s the best at high pressing I’ve ever seen.
‘Danilo, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan all helped us against Bournemouth. Of course, we will rotate. We have a game every four days. Everyone that has played in the past will play in the future.’