I’LL NEVER CHANGE, VOWS PEP
PEP GUARDIOLA promised yesterday that Manchester City will never prioritise any competition over another while he is manager. City’s chances of winning the Quadruple ended with an away-goals Champions League defeat by Tottenham on Wednesday and bouncing back against Mauricio Pochettino’s side today would boost their title defence. Guardiola can end the season as the first manager to win the domestic Treble in England and insisted he would not throw away the FA Cup or Carabao Cup in pursuit of European glory. ‘I will dream of fighting for
the four titles next season, that’s my dream,’ Guardiola said. ‘I’m not going to drop any competitions. I don’t understand in my profession saying, “I don’t want to win”.’ Today will be City’s 35th fixture since the beginning of December, an average of a game every four days. But Guardiola refuted any notion his players might struggle with fatigue, instead pointing towards a lack of preparation time before big matches. The manager told his players to harness the pain they felt in the aftermath of Wednesday’s dramatic loss and said the ‘sad’ reaction in the dressing room was encouraging. ‘I am going to defend my team until the last day,’ he added. ‘This team are incredible. Dreaming about Trebles or Quadruples… fighting for that is good. People forget November, December, all these games and the way we’ve competed given the problems we had. I feel pride for playing like we did. ‘OK, I am sad about the way we played against Newcastle away. Then they are not my friends. Then I’m not a good manager with them. ‘But I’m not going to analyse my performance or my team for a one-inch offside or one hypothetical handball. ‘For those reasons we are a disaster team or a good team? No. Talking about VAR is f****** boring. I like my team. I am proud. The second leg was no surrender, go until the end.’ That attitude is required in the tightest of title races. City can leapfrog Liverpool today before Jurgen Klopp’s side visit Cardiff tomorrow. ‘We’re not going to change,’ Guardiola said. ‘Next season we are going to try, be honest in how we want to play.’