Pep Guardiola called on Manchester City to be more united than ever as he defended the memories they have shared together. It has been a bruising week for Blues, who have been accused by the Premier League of more than 100 rule breaches and public condemnation – a YouGov poll of 1,000 fans found just 7 per cent of people who believe that City are unlikely to be guilty of the charges. Until a commission is formed and completed, which is expected to take years, there is no chance of the club being able to prove that the seven per cent are right. That has not changed the view at City, though, with Guardiola saying on Friday he believes they are fully innocent of all charges as he savaged Premier League rivals for trying to ensure they were punished. The City manager called on everyone at the club to pull together to be able to ‘beat the establishment’ and enjoy more success together.
Pep Guardiola said: “We have to be more closer together than ever, no matter if you are alone, if we are together in the toughest moments that will come because I don’t know what’s going to happen in many decisions. You have to be alert. I had the feeling when I arrived here that to play good is not enough to win. Play better is not enough to win. We have to play much, much better. To beat the establishment we have to do it perfectly. In equal situations, people have history, we are not the hierarchy of the Premier League. I say the same words when I arrive at Barcelona, to beat Madrid you have to do it not better, but much, much better, otherwise you don’t beat Madrid. It’s the same right here. We have to make 100 points, 99 points, 97 points, to win the Premier League, with 80 points you don’t. These standards, Liverpool and ourselves, we did it. We raised the bar, that’s why we won, because it was almost perfectly. Now you have to try to work to do it better and better and better, otherwise there’s no chance. It happened in the past and it happened right now.”
Even if he feels the club have suffered damage from the allegations that they will not recover from, Guardiola will always fondly remember what he has achieved with the players. The City manager also joked about Steven Gerrard’s famous slip in the 2013/14 title race – two years before he arrived in Manchester – as he made the point that the memories they have enjoyed together will not be tainted.
Pep Guardiola said: “They belong to us, absolutely belong to us, regardless of the sentence, they belong to us. The moment from Sergio Aguero, with Balotelli. I don’t know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping at Anfield, I didn’t want it out of respect for Steven Gerrard, but it’s our fault. That belongs to us. The moments we live these years together, they decide to give [signals trophies away] the Premier League will decide, but I know what we won and the way we won it, with the effort we put behind it, for something happened in 2009/10, it’s not going to change one second.”
