Guardiola: I commit to rebuilding Manchester City next season
The Spanish coach of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, has vowed that his team will be strong in the English Premier League again in the future, after being led by the giant Norwegian international striker Erling Haaland to a 1-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday in the 27th round.
Haaland’s decisive goal in the 12th minute boosted Manchester City’s quest for a spot in the Champions League next season, as they regained 4th place (the final qualifying position for the prestigious continental competition).
The battle to finish the season in the top four has become a major disappointment for the league champions in the last four seasons, and six times in the past seven years under Guardiola’s leadership.
Liverpool has become much closer to clinching the title this season, leading by 13 points over second-placed Arsenal. However, Manchester City, which fell to the Reds (0-2) at home in the previous round, had been out of the title race for several months after a series of disappointing results that left them 20 points behind the leaders.
With Manchester City also eliminated from the Champions League knockout stage by defending champions Real Madrid, as well as from the League Cup quarter-finals by Tottenham, Guardiola’s only remaining hope for silverware this season is the FA Cup. City will face Plymouth Argyle, bottom of the second division (Championship), in the round of 16, with the latter having caused a major upset by eliminating Liverpool in the fourth round.
However, looking further ahead, the Spaniard remains convinced that City is capable of regaining its former glory, despite some players aging in certain positions and the lack of experience in other areas of the squad.
The good and bad aspects of the struggling City team were clear in North London, where the team started strongly but squandered a series of opportunities to extend their lead before holding on under heavy pressure in the second half.
Guardiola said: “This will never be the old City this season. The old City was very good, but we will come back. The match was open in the second half because we didn’t seal the result in the first half. In this stadium, they always have 20 to 25 minutes, and we suffered in the second half.”
He added: “This has happened many times this season, where we conceded an unbelievable number of goals, and in attack, there have been several games, like the Champions League match against Sporting (Portugal), where we should have been 3-1 or 4-1 up in the first half, but we lost 1-4 in the end. This happens often, and fortunately today we finished the game well.”
Tottenham’s Australian coach, Ange Postecoglou, claimed that his team’s overzealousness hurt them as they suffered from injuries during the first half, which was dominated by City.
Postecoglou’s men have endured a difficult season, much like Manchester City, as they sit in 13th place and compete for the Europa League title to end a 17-year trophy drought.
He said: “In the first half, we were a bit too eager to progress the ball, and when you’re up against Manchester City, that allows them to get into their rhythm.”
He added: “They can catch you at different times, and we didn’t handle that part of the game well. They scored and had two good chances to extend their lead.”
He continued: “I definitely felt that we controlled the game in the second half relentlessly, we were much better with the ball and calmer, but we missed a goal and ultimately lost.”
