'Pep' Guardiola, manager of Manchester City
Pep Guardiola isn't interested in using excuses at Man City
Despite all of his glittering success at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola feels the need to prove himself all over again.
Guardiola has established himself as the greatest manager of his generation, with trophy-laden spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, where he is now into his ninth season.
At City, the 53-year-old has won six Premier League titles, four League Cups, two FA Cups, the Champions League, the Super Cup, Club World Cup and three Community Shields.
But after five straight defeats and a draw – the worst run of his managerial career – Guardiola feels he must prove his coaching and managerial credentials all over again at City. It is one of the reasons why he signed a new two-year deal with City, to rebuild the team and lead the club into a new era of success, despite everything he has already achieved.
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Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool, where defeat would leave City 11 points adrift in the title race, Guardiola came out fighting and was in no mood to throw in the towel. “It's not nice to live, of course it's not nice, but what do you expect?" said the City boss. “That everything will be a red carpet? That everything is nice and easy?
“It's easy when you're winning 10, 11 or 12 games in a row, everyone is fit, everyone is in their prime and everyone is 26, 27 or 28. Everything is going well. That's easy. Now? No. Now I have to prove myself.
“But I want the opportunity. I want the opportunity to try. I don't want to run. I want to be there and rebuild the team in many aspects from now on until the end of the season and next season. I want to continue up there.
Bernardo Silva of Manchester City looks disappointed and dejected
Manchester City are in the worst form they've experienced under Pep Guardiola
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Image:
Getty Images)
“I asked for that challenge and I asked for this opportunity to do it because I feel it. I know what we want to do, I know what we need and what we have to do, knowing that at this moment we obviously don't have the consistency that we had.
“But which team around the world, over 10 years, is consistent? Tell me one. It doesn't exist. Not in the NBA, not even in tennis, not in any sports. Not in golf. Over a decade, we have been here. To be as consistent as we have been, you won't find it. I'm sorry.”
City's current plight is inextricably linked to the enforced absence of their midfield giant Rodri, winner of the Ballon d'Or, who is out long-term following ACL surgery.
Manchester City are missing Rodri ( Image: Getty Images)
But Guardiola said City cannot use the loss of Rodri, coupled with injuries to other key players, as an excuse for falling short, and told his players they must simply get on with it. “It's not an excuse that Rodri is not there,” said Guardiola. “What are we going to do, cry all the time that Rodri is not there? Or that four central defenders have not been there for a long time in the last month? I have to find a solution and I'm trying every day.
“We cannot forget that, three months ago, we were Premier League champions. We made the FA Cup final and we arrived in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. We have to find a way, one way or the other, to win games. It's not about playing good or playing bad, it's about winning games. We won the Treble and four titles in a row.
“Do you think we always played exceptionally? Always won 5-0? No. The games were not always good, but the way we were, we were exceptional.”
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