Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan believes the team restored standards at the club at the end of last season
Ilkay Gundogan scored at Fulham in what turned out to be his final appearance for Manchester City
Ilkay Gundogan scored at Fulham in what turned out to be his final appearance for Manchester City
Ilkay Gundogan left Manchester City with happy memories of restoring the team to its 'highest standard' after helping them to recover from a brutal season. Pep Guardiola's side entered the campaign with hopes of another Premier League title but by the end of it were grateful to have scraped into the top four.
Gundogan, returning to the Blues after a year in Barcelona, took a lot of criticism during the course of the campaign. Alongside Bernardo Silva, the pair were two of a small group of players to largely avoid injury in the year but it meant that their form dipped as they were overplayed in the absence of others.
Nonetheless, Gundogan played enough to trigger an automatic one-year extension to his contract and planned on staying after seeing an improvement in form that helped the team over the line in their quest to make the Champions League again.
In the second half of the season, City won 10 and drew two of the 12 games the German started while picking up just one win and suffering three defeats in the matches where he didn't play.
That record leaves Gundogan with pride as he starts a new chapter at Galatasaray, even if he was expecting to remain at the Etihad. The 34-year-old felt he still had something to offer Guardiola but was not used in a minute of the first three games and left just after deadline day with the Turkish window still open.
On his departure, the veteran midfielder wrote an emotional goodbye letter to supporters in the Manchester Evening News to celebrate his time at the club and relationship with the local communities. And as Gundogan takes the positives from one of the most challenging seasons of his career, City must find the consistency they showed at the end of last term if they are to avoid more disappointment.
“I think it was one of the most difficult seasons, probably where we ended the season on the table also kind of reflects that. Always, that's quite normal," he said. "But I think, going through all these difficulties together as a group, coming out of them still in a positive way.
"I've seen a stat somewhere a couple of weeks ago that we haven't lost any of the last seven or eight games of last season. Really, we won six and drew two or something like that.
"I think, at the end of the season, we were on it again. That's where also we made the Champions League at the end, because we found ourselves again.
"When we found the right balance between each other, and it felt like it clicked again, at the end of last season. I think that's how we played football as well; it was to our standard, to the highest standard, something that we were used for so many years.
"I think that's worth a lot to be honest with you, because we should never forget where we where we are coming from, and having all these beautiful and amazing years; all the struggles, they are part of it. And as I said in the beginning, going through the struggles, it just makes all the achievements sweeter and better, and makes it worth more as well.
"So I see last season also as a difficult one, but I will also never forget that we've played some, some really good football at the end, and we achieved our minimum target as well by reaching the Champions League.”
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