City right to stick by Guardiola
MANCHESTER CITY defender Aleks Kolarov has admitted that his team hasn’t been good enough this season.
However, he is convinced that Pep Guardiola’s first trophy-less season is a one-off and that the club hierarchy are right to stick with the Spaniard.
“One season without trophies cannot delete what Pep did in his past,” says the Serb. “For me, he’s the best I’ve ever worked with.
“I am sure he is going to win a lot of things with City. He has improved our players, our game and our mentality.
“That is what a coach has to do so I am sure City will have success with him.
“I am very happy to play with his style and I think 90% of the games we have dominated.
“If we keep to our ideas and try to do what we have been doing, the results will come.
“To win something, though, you have to win all your home games if possible.
“At 1-0 in some matches we missed the chance to put the second goal in and finish the game and then conceded goals in the last minutes.
“We weren’t good enough to win the title but we have improved a lot this season. We will be stronger next season to hit our targets.
“Over the last 10 years, City have gone in the right direction. We are one of the best clubs in Europe and I’m sure that with more trophies we will become the club people want us to be.”
If City beatWatford today they will qualify for next season’s Champions League but Kolarov warns that the situation where members of the Big Six clubs will potentially fail to make Europe’s prestige competition is here to stay.
“Obviously, you now have six very, very strong teams,” he says. “Two of those teams are not going to play Champions League.
“Every year even the smaller teams are becoming stronger and you have to be focused in every match.
“We have this kind of pressure every game and the match against Watford is a final because it’s the last game.
“TheWalter Mazzarri announcement will probably make them more difficult to beat but even if he wasn’t leaving, this is their last home game of the season and they will give us a tough game.”