CATASTROPHY
Pep: I’ve failed if we don’t scoop silverware
PEP GUARDIOLA admits he will be a failure if he doesn’t win a trophy this season.
Guardiola’s Manchester City are at the Riverside today to face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, which could well be their best chance of landing silverware.
City are out of the title race and are not expected to win the Champions League.
Failing to win a trophy in his first season would be a blow for the Spanish coach.
For Guardiola, who picked up the manager of the month award (inset), the pressure on him to deliver success is immense.
He won trophies galore with Barcelona before going to Bayern Munich and winning a hattrick of Bundesliga titles in his three years with the German giants. Guardiola said: “I give you my permission to analyse what is my success this season. I’m not the guy to say it was good or bad.
“But I know what my standard is in terms of the past and titles. I know what’s on my shoulders and I have to handle that.
“I know we will be judged on the titles we win. I know. My period in Munich was judged as a disaster because we were not able to win the Champions League.
“But when I was at Munich, we won three leagues in a row, we won two cups, we arrived all the time in the semi-finals, but it was a disaster. So I have to handle that.”
Guardiola admits the next week could define City’s season, with a place in the FA Cup semi-finals and Champions League quarter-finals at stake.
City travel to Monaco after Middlesbrough and Guardiola says finishing the season strongly is essential. He added: “What I can say, we are trying to play better.
“When you compete in the Premier League, one team in terms of results is amazing (Chelsea). It’s so difficult to compete with that.
“But we want to be there until the end – don’t give up. That’s what I want. To achieve a final in a cup would be a dream for the club.
“But what I would like to see in my team is them playing better at the end of the season than at the beginning.”