City boss is ‘more than satisfied’ with his side
MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola has stressed he is “more than satisfied” with what he is seeing from his team.
Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, secured by Rodri’s late equaliser, brought an 11-match winning run in all competitions to an end for City.
The defending champions are third in the table, two points behind second-placed Arsenal and four behind leaders Liverpool ahead of playing their game in hand when hosting Brentford this evening.
Guardiola – whose treble-winners are aiming for a fourth successive league title – told a press conference: “The last five, 10 minutes first half, (and) in the second half, we were in our best level.
“But I know the standards we have, that we create to be there, for what we have done in the past, and I understand completely the doubts for the people but what I am seeing, I’m more than satisfied.
“I’ll give credit to Chelsea, who created problems, not just because in some actions we were not good. But in general when you analyse the game, we were more than decent.
“But I know our standards, and you demand our standards, for what we have done in the past.
“I know it’s not easy to sustain it. For a long, long, long time we did it.
“We were 11 games winning, and the people say ‘they are not going to lose any other game’.
So now, just for one draw.. when for 55, 60 minutes, we were who we are.” Guardiola added: “You demand to us all the time, the only team, because we achieve what we have achieved. We have to live with that. We know that. It’s you that believes it’s easy, not us.”
And when then asked if people demanding perfection every game was the price of success, he said: “Absolutely – I had experience at my previous clubs, especially Barcelona.
“It’s an honour. Go for it. But no effect – we know what it is and we have to continue doing what we try. It’s normal.
“In the beginning was a lack of consistency, and I said it’s how we behave in many, many things in how we perform and I demand, I’m the first to demand myself, the team do it during in 95 minutes, knowing it’s impossible.
“The reality is since we lost against Aston Villa (on December 6) we didn’t lose one game (in 15), and in the (two) games we drew, we were better.
“Are we going to win the Premier League? I don’t know. But still we are there and this is why we continue.”
Guardiola – who confirmed Jack Grealish (groin) and Josko Gvardiol (ankle) will again be unavailable tonight for the visit of Brentford – was also asked what he thought of Kylian Mbappe as a player, following a report in Spain that one of the Paris St Germain star’s representatives had a meeting with City last week.
And he said with a smile: “I think he’s quite good – he has a future! He’s really, really good.”