Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, claimed that his side could not afford to repeat the “under-14s” defense that saw them face a 5-1 defeat by Arsenal in February.
In the race for the title in the Premier League, Guardiola’s men are already trailing the Gunners and defending champions Liverpool on Sunday.
City came out on top with wins over Manchester United and Napoli in the Champions League, but they lost two of their opening three games to Tottenham and Brighton.
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One of Guardiola’s worst campaigns was the one that saw him lose to his former protege Mikel Arteta.
City finished third, trailing only Liverpool and Arsenal, in the first place since 2017 when it failed to win a trophy.
When asked about his most recent trip to the Emirates, Guardiola said, “We started like many times last season, like an under-14s team, and gave away a thousand million goals.
In comparison to last season, the last 15-20 minutes were a disaster, but the majority of the time after we were good.
It was simple for Arsenal because we forgot what we had to do. I want to compete to improve our team from last year. ”
In the quest for Premier League dominance, Guardiola took aim at those who claimed his six titles, which he had won since arriving in England, were due to the budget at his disposal, while Liverpool and Arsenal both blew it in the transfer window.
The only thing I want to tell my friend Mikel Arteta is that if he wins, it will be simply because he spent money, not because he worked hard or with his players, Guardiola sarcastically.
It resembles Liverpool, too. Arne (Slot) will win it again because, you see, he spent a lot of money, right? Given that not just Man City does (spend), is that correct? ”
Arteta left in 2019 to take over as Guardiola’s assistant, and she has slowly transformed Arsenal into a force that can win numerous awards.
After finishing second in the Premier League for the third consecutive year, he has only recently won one piece of silverware, the 2020 FA Cup.
Guardiola continued, “Arsenal is getting better. He found the club in a (certain) way and step-by-step, window by window.”
They made an incredible step forward last season in Europe, and they are now the most reliable team. In the back, they don’t make mistakes. ”
City is three points clear of Arsenal and six points clear of Liverpool as the weekend draws to a close.
Guardiola’s side’s Champions League opener was played 48 hours after Arsenal, who won 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, making the challenge even more difficult.
Guardiola said it might be challenging for Rodri to start three games in eight days after suffering a serious knee injury, but he did not want to be drawn into the scheduling debate.
Source: Channels TV
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