Pep in need of some reasons to be cheerful

2020 has not been kind to City supremo so far ... and it shows

DOES it still count as complaining if you actually say that you are not complaining?

Pep Guardiola has given three press conferences this season and in each one has looked pretty miserable – to the point where he was even asked in one what the matter was.

Not that the state of Manchester City’s squad is anything to be cheerful about.

They barely had a pre-season, Sergio Aguero is still injured having been aiming to return for the Champions League semi-finals, three players have tested positive for Covid, and three more returned to Manchester from international duty carrying injuries.

Now Gabriel Jesus is injured too. The fixture list was not kind on the Blues, with an opening game at a ground they have never won at under their manager followed by a home game with the talented side currently top of the league (yes, tables do exist as early as this) and a trip to Marcelo Bielsa’s Premier League newcomer.

And if Guardiola wants to win the Carabao Cup again, he can’t afford to toss away a tricky tie at Burnley sandwiched between those games.

City’s coach has reason to gripe, yet is determined not to (too much). “I always thought the situation was the situation and right now it is what it is,” he said after the Bournemouth game.

“We would prefer four or five weeks to prepare but I like to convince these players especially at this club or other clubs I came from that excuses don’t exist. We have 13 players? We have to win the game. We have many games? We have to win the games.”

City have had different mental hurdles in each of their four years under Guardiola.

Initial optimism in 2016 crumbled at the first sign of uncertainty, leading to no trophies and the surrender of a two-goal lead in the Champions League last16 against Monaco. A season later the Blues had to cope with no competition, battling only with themselves to push them on to 100 points and all those other records after realistically wrapping up the league title by December.

As defending champions, they had to lift themselves like no team in a decade had and then wrestle with an outstanding Liverpool team that looked to be too far ahead to catch.

Those two years were colossal triumphs, but it all came tumbling down last year. With the manager smarting from not getting a new centre-back, only getting a draw from 90 minutes of making Tottenham look like a non-league side drained belief, and everything got under their skin from Bernardo Silva’s tweet and the festive fixture list to VAR and the huge courtroom battles with UEFA.

That same challenge now faces the Blues. They gave themselves excuses as Liverpool romped to the title, and Jurgen Klopp’s side will not be easy to defeat this time.

As City wait to get players back, they know they cannot afford an ounce of complacency or feeling sorry for themselves against tough opponents in Leicester, Burnley, Leeds, and anyone else they may have to face in a weakened state.

How well they can block out the distractions and excuses will determine the extent of their success this season.

We have 13 players? We have to win the game. We have many games? We have to win the games. Pep Guardiola