By SIMON MULLOCK
WHEN Pep Guardiola launched his staunch defence of Manchester City following the Premier League’s announcement that they were charging the club with 115 financial offences, his players were watching on TV.
According to dressing room insiders, his passionate address has been the driving force behind City’s quest for the Treble.
It was February 10 and City were five points behind leaders Arsenal following a tepid 1-0 defeat at Tottenham that had some pundits questioning their appetite to go the distance yet again.
The club was reeling from the news that despite winning an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a two-year UEFA ban from the Champions League, they were now facing another fight to prove their innocence.
Chief executive Ferran Soriano had spoken to staff to assure them that City welcomed the chance to finally clear their name after an £8.7million CAS fine for non-cooperation with UEFA’s investigation team had handed the club’s critics a different stick to beat them with.
But it was when City’s first-team squad heard Guardiola return fire by accusing the other 19 Premier League clubs of ganging up on them that the momentum of the season changed.
Guardiola was 48 hours away from sending his team out to face Aston Villa when he faced the media in the lecture theatre at the City Football Academy.
One hundred yards away in the first-team building, his squad were transfixed to the TV as their manager delivered a declaration of war on the club’s accusers.
Guardiola said: “We are not part of the establishment.
“In this country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty – and this isn’t happening.
“My first thought is that we have already been condemned.
“Nine teams – Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, (Manchester) United, Liverpool, Chelsea – wanted us out of the Champions League (during the UEFA case).
“Now the Premier League is supported by 19 teams and we are going to defend our position. “Like Julius Caesar said, ‘In this world, there are no enemies or friends, just interests.’”
City’s players got the message. Villa were duly dispatched
3-1 and, three days later, they went to Arsenal to deliver a reality check to the Gunners by winning by the same score.
City’s record since the Premier League charges were laid is: played 23, won 19, drawn four.
That run has included two victories over Arsenal to take them to a third successive title on the spin.
They have booked a date with bitter rivals Manchester
United in the FA Cup Final on June 3 without conceding a goal on their relentless march to Wembley.
And they are big favourites to win the Champions League for the first time after a midweek masterclass against holders Real Madrid took them through to a final meeting with Inter Milan in Istanbul seven days later.
As well as beating 14-times winners Madrid 5-1 on
aggregate, City have knocked out Bayern Munich 4-1 and Red Bull Leipzig 8-1.
Insiders say Guardiola’s drive for perfection was cranked up even further by the fresh accusations of financial misdeeds.
His players tapped into the Catalan’s siege mentality when they heard him speak with such conviction about how City will beat the Premier League’s catalogue of allegations.
It is not the first time that
Guardiola has used the public platform of a press conference to galvanise his players.
In 2011, when his Barcelona team faced Real Madrid four times in 18 days in La Liga, two legs of a Champions League semi-final and the Copa del Rey Final, he was given a standing ovation by his squad after calling out opposite number Jose Mourinho.
Guardiola called his great rival “the f***ing boss” when it
came to mind games – but then reminded the world’s media inside The Bernabeu that his players would do their talking on the pitch.
Barcelona duly won the La Liga title and the Champions League, leaving Real with the consolation of a domestic cup win.
And, as City prepare to host Chelsea today, you can bet Guardiola will be determined to go one step further this time.