POWER OF A PEP TALK
Guardiola saw City flop against West Brom and went back to basics
PEP GUARDIOLA has revealed the secrets behind Manchester City’s dramatic shift in fortunes and the changes that prompted a record-breaking 15 consecutive victories.
The City boss — who faces old foe Jose Mourinho when Tottenham travel to the Etihad Stadium today — pinpointed the influence of his captain, Fernandinho and the tactical tweaks he made before Christmas.
Guardiola also roped in sporting director Txiki Begiristain to thrash out exactly why the team were floundering following a tepid 1-1
draw against struggling West Brom on December 15.
What has followed is an unprecedented run of wins, with City now firmly in charge of the Premier League title race, five points clear of Manchester United with a game in hand. ‘To be specific, it was after the game against West Brom,’ said Guardiola. ‘We could have won with two incredible chances at the end but, after that game,
I felt this is not the team I recognise. I didn’t like what I watched, I didn’t like what I saw. ‘We talked with my coaches, Juanma (Lillo) and Rodo (Borrell) with Manuel (Estiarte), with Txiki. We said: “Okay we have to come back to our first principle”, and we had to reconstruct the team from that point.
‘We had to return to our game — move the ball quicker, do more passes, stay in position, run less with the ball, do it together. The qualities of the players did the rest.’ A gritty one-goal win at Southampton kicked off the current run, with City then beating the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool away from home.
The galling 2-0 reverse at Tottenham in November was their last defeat and Guardiola suggested that Fernandinho dished out some harsh truths in the aftermath of that result, with City languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League. ‘We were 12th in the table, and the captain said: “Guys, we have to talk, this is not good”. He said we have to go through it, forget any excuses about the tactics or the manager, about the club or whatever. We have to do more. And they did.’ City stopped the rot in the games which followed but they had still not clicked — evident when West Brom left Manchester with a point three weeks later.
Ilkay Gundogan was then moved further forward, leading to a glut of goals that saw him named Premier League Player of the Month yesterday, while City widened themselves on the pitch. Joao Cancelo’s emergence at right-back and his ability to flit between positions in possession has opened up their attack.
That is in stark contrast to Mourinho’s Tottenham, who have lost three of their last four league games, with public disagreements between the manager and Gareth Bale surfacing in the past few days.
‘The reason why we have done what we have done so far is exclusively the personality and the talent of the players,’ Guardiola (left) said. ‘We have a few intelligent players here. When things are going bad, they step forward.’
He believes he has been afforded unrivalled patience by the City board, saying: ‘Last season after the
Champions League, I would have been out at another club. In the first season, we did not win and the club supported me a lot. In another situation, maybe I will be out. They convinced me to extend the contract because I felt they wanted it.
‘You can’t do big things without big players, and big players cost money. So when people say City or Pep win it’s because they have spent lots of money, I am willing to say this is true. Absolutely true.’