IT HAUL STARTS NOW
Pep was signed to create a trophy-winning machine at City. His bosses hope tomorrow will be the beginning of a golden Etihad era
FINALLY, nearly a decade after Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City, manager Pep Guardiola is poised to fulfil his vision for the club.
Mansour wants trophies on an industrial scale. That’s why he worked so hard to lure Guardiola
Mansour does not just want City to compete with the best in the Premier League and in Europe, he wants them to be the best. Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini had their moments, but the Abu Dhabi billionaire wants to win trophies on an industrial scale. That’s why he worked so hard over so many years to lure Guardiola to the Etihad, and now the Catalan is on the cusp of delivering the success he craves.
Victory in tomorrow’s League Cup final would be the first piece of silverware in Guardiola’s reign. The Premier League title will follow in the next few weeks, while City are as good as through to the last eight of the Champions League.
Guardiola understands his remit and said: “I’d like to win my first trophy, not for me, but for the club. “We are here to try to win titles. We are involved right now in three and, on Sunday, we have the chance to win the first.
“The first step is to arrive in the final. We did that and now we will try to win it.
“At the end of the season, we will see how the season was.”
Guardiola is building something which should endure after last term’s false start. He has spent an eye-watering £448million on overhauling the ageing side he inherited, and reinvigorated them with young, exciting players.
Yet he believes it would be a mistake to proclaim success against Arsenal at Wembley as just the first of many trophies under him.
“No, I don’t have that feeling,” said the Catalan. “The same thing was asked in the beginning of the season – did I expect to fight until three days ago in four competitions?
“I said no. Not even in Barcelona, when we won the first Cup, did I expect to win 14 titles in four years. I’m more pragmatic than that.
“I think in football it’s a big mistake to think what might happen in the next three years. It’s a big mistake for our heads to think like that. It makes no sense.
“When people asked, in the beginning, about winning four titles, I said of course we would try, but the big teams have not been able to do that – the big Liverpools, the big Uniteds, the big Arsenals, the big Chelseas.
“So why should I think we can do it? We have a final on Sunday and we must focus on that. Then, after, in the Premier League, we need six games to be champions in the most prestigious tournament in this country.
“At the end of our time together, we will see what we have done.” Guardiola has a fantastic record in the finals of knockout competitions, winning nine of his 10 appearances with Barca and Bayern Munich.
“I don’t know why that is,” he smiled. “At the same time, in semi-finals, especially in the Champions League, I have had nine, but have arrived in just two finals.
“Normally, it happens because you have good players and a good mentality.
“Don’t be scared to play, be brave to play, try to attack and score. That’s what we are going to try to do against Arsenal.”