‘Not our best, but closer’ – how high can Man City finish?

Pep Guardiola would frequently appear agitated and stressed during Manchester City’s terrible run of form and results toward the end of 2024.

But he appeared much more at ease after watching his team thoroughly defeat Ipswich 6-0 on Sunday. It served as a reminder of why City has historically been the best team in English football.

“We are back to doing things that define this team for the last 10 years”, Guardiola told Sky Sports afterwards.

“I’m really pleased for the players, they deserve it. They go through a lot of pain this time, but some of the identities we lost along the way were rebuilt.

With only one league win in nine games in November and December, City’s chances of a fifth consecutive title are severely diminished because they are now 12 points clear of leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand.

The top four is much more realistic, and Ipswich’s goal-rush allowed them to surpass Newcastle, who are six points clear of second-placed Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, in the title race.

Guardiola, though, was just happy to see signs of his old team as they took total control against Town.

“]It was] much better”, he added. “Maybe not our best, but closer.

The players realized what our standards were lacking because it was the joy of doing your best, not winning titles.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a big actor in London or a little theatre in Sheffield – it doesn’t matter.

The biggest Premier League victory of the season came from City opening up Ipswich again with precise passing and movement, which City had missed out on throughout their troubled era.

When City was dominant, they would score for fun, and their free-scoring form has also come back with 14 goals in each of their previous four games. Their joint-largest away win in Premier League history came with this result, which defeated Watford 6-0 in the 2017 competition.

However, for them to win a fifth consecutive title, it would require an incredible run of form from City and a significant drop in results from Liverpool.

But until it is mathematically impossible, you can never truly rule them out. In 2018-19 they trailed Liverpool by 10 points by the New Year, but then won 18 of their next 19 games to win the title by a point.

Arsenal’s 13-point deficit in 1997-98 is the biggest one that a team has overcome.

Manchester United overcame 12-point deficits in 1992-93 and 1995-96 – the latter was after 23 games and they went on to finish four points clear of Newcastle.

Former Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer stated on BBC Radio 5 live, “The initial goal is to try to get up to that second spot.” That’s certainly within touching distance.

“I don’t believe you can rule out Manchester City, but I would prefer to finish in the top two. Although I believe the title is out of reach, there is still enough football to be played.

Guardiola won’t be concerned about any title challenges at the moment; he will just be happy to see his players once more enjoying themselves on the field.

Phil Foden, in particular, is looking more like the player who claimed a career-best 27 goals and 12 assists last season to be named PFA Player of the Year.

His two goals against Ipswich helped him reach five goals in his previous three league games as he vowed to find the right positions to reclaim chances.

” It is good to see me back scoring goals with a smile on my face and enjoying football, “said Foden, 24.

I want to keep going and adding more to that. You never know what can happen. The goal is to remain among the top four.

Guardiola wants Foden to follow in his footsteps after signing a nine-and-a-half year deal last week with the club to commit his long-term future to the club.

” He can be a one-club man and finish his career here and play many, many years, “said the City boss.

We talked frequently over the course of the past month or two; he had a few issues at the beginning of the season, but because of how human beings are, it’s normal to experience setbacks during a long career.

City appear to be in good form at the right moment as they shift their focus to a crucial Champions League game against Paris St-Germain on Wednesday, with three wins in their last four games and six unbeaten in six.

City have a chance of automatically qualifying for the knockout stages because they are 22nd in the league phase of the competition.

In addition, future reconstruction is underway and changes are anticipated in both incoming and outgoing funds.

Due to his connections to AC Milan, Kyle Walker did not play in the Ipswich squad, with Guardiola claiming that the England full-back has been given the opportunity to explore his options.

Omar Marmoush, a Eintracht Frankfurt player, is also close to joining City, who are also pursuing Brazilian goalkeeper Vitor Reis and Lens central defender Abdukodir Khusanov.

“It’s about building momentum again”, added Schwarzer.

The key players were relentless in front of goal, and they certainly showed that against Ipswich.