Pep Guardiola has taunted Premier League leaders Liverpool over their failure to match Manchester Metropolis’s file 100-point tally.
Manchester Metropolis supervisor Pep Guardiola(Motion Photos through Reuters)
Guardiola’s troubled aspect is trailing 16 factors behind Liverpool after their bid for a fifth successive English crown collapsed in astonishing vogue.
Liverpool are seven factors away from second-placed Arsenal as they chase a twentieth title, which might equal Manchester United’s file.
However even when Arne Slot’s males go on to safe the trophy, they now can’t match the file factors whole set when Metropolis gained the primary of Guardiola’s six titles in 2017-18.
Responding to criticism of Metropolis’s spluttering dynasty after Tuesday’s 3-2 house defeat in opposition to Actual Madrid within the Champions League play-off spherical first leg, Guardiola took a tetchy swipe at Liverpool.
“We took all the records in England. Who would do 100 points now in modern football? I’m waiting,” Guardiola advised reporters on Friday.
“Or four in a row? I’m waiting – with clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves that you have to play.
“The requirements, we dictated. Have you ever seen Liverpool this season? They can not do 100 factors already – 99 however not 100.”
While Liverpool may not surpass fifth-placed City’s record mark, Guardiola accepts his team have fallen behind their rivals this season.
“I requested ‘Gundo’ (Ilkay Gundogan) yesterday, ‘two years in the past you had been right here, you had been one yr in Barcelona and also you come again right here, did you see adjustments within the Premier League?’,” said Guardiola, whose team host top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday.
“He stated massively, the distinction was unbelievable. It is the reality. The groups are a lot, a lot, significantly better in all departments. Individuals put together so effectively.
“We cannot do it for the (injury) problems we’ve had. There are a lot of players, with the amount of minutes they have had, who are so tired, emotionally as well.
“However guys, we need to have a nasty season. We deserve to not be like we had been. They’re human beings, it could actually occur. We weren’t constant and we’ve not had the gamers at their greatest.
“It’s the first time that me and many of the players have lived this position but we have to accept it (and recognise) what happened in the past was not normal.”
Guardiola believes the distinction from earlier profitable seasons is that Metropolis are now not profiting from their dominance of possession.
“I accept when the opponents have the ball, I’m going to suffer,” he stated.
“But now we are suffering when we have the ball. It never happened before and, (right) now, I cannot change it. We are suffering because we are human beings.”