- Despite a perfect record so far, Manchester City must improve to win the Premier League – Guardiola.
- Claudio Bravo will continue to make mistakes but he will be backed to help win City more points than he loses.
- Guardiola grateful for his own song from the fans, something he’s never had before
- Sergio Aguero fit to play tomorrow after domestic suspension; Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan making progress
- Attacking game in prospect tomorrow against Borussia Monchengladbach
Manchester City must improve, warns Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has warned City fans that the team must play better to win this season’s Premier League title despite winning every game so far.
The popular Spaniard, who admitted that he’s never been name-checked in his own song sung by fans in his footballing career, says there’s still room to improve after Saturday’s derby victory at United.
City have conceded a goal in all bar one of their competitive games this season – the 1-0 win at home to Steaua Bucharest – and had previously said after Saturday’s derby win against United that City would need to improve to sit at Europe’s top table in the Champions League.
He also said that despite becoming only the fourth manager in Premier League history (after Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, and Carlo Ancelotti) to win his first four league games he has continued to demand more from his team.
He said: “We must improve a lot of things. After four games in the Premier League I would like to tell our fans that the way we played until now will not be enough to win the league.
“We are so happy for the results and the numbers and the way we played but it’s not enough to win the Premier League and achieve our target in the Champions League.”
Pep Guardiola backs Claudio Bravo to add to Manchester City build-up
He reiterated his backing of Claudio Bravo, the Chilean ‘keeper signed from Barcelona to replace Joe Hart, whose mistakes might have cost City the game at Old Trafford, but who he is convinced will add more to the team over the course of a season than his mistakes will detract:
He said: “Claudio Bravo will make mistakes in the future and the opponent will score goals. I am pretty sure of that.
“In the last four minutes of the first half they could have scored twice and we could have gone to the dressing room at half time 3-2 down.
United boss Jose Mourinho had complained that Bravo should have been sent off after bringing down Wayne Rooney in his box on Saturday, but Guardiola remained tight-lipped on the matter, saying:
“Normally I don’t speak about referees. Sometimes we are lucky, sometimes we are unlucky.”
Guardiola confirmed that neither manager had time for that much vaunted drink together, with media commitments taking up much of their time after the game.
Sergio Aguero fit to play after domestic suspension
Guardiola also confirmed that Sergio Aguero, who is currently serving a domestic suspension, will be fit and ready to play tomorrow.
He also reported that Ilkay Gundogan and Vincent Kompany were making progress but also praised his floating attacking midfielders David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne who have helped them win every game so far this season.
He said: “Maybe last season David was not fully fit.
“When they both played together when fully fit they were amazing.
“I did not discover Kevin and David. They both play good. We need to get the ball to them as much as possible.”
Borussia Monchengladbach tough opponents
Pep’s City faces Borussia Monchengladbach in their first Champions League group game, a team City beat twice in the Champions League group stage last season.
In German domestic football, however, his record against the attacking side is less emphatic, with two wins, two draws and two defeats against them in his three years at Bayern Munich.
With both sides employing goalkeepers who can play football, is there a prospect of goals for both sides?
“I know Gladbach and they are a very good team.” said Guardiola.
“When you see the teams of Schubert in Germany they play like this in all their games. He is a brave coach with a brave team.
“If you let them play you will see they have a lot of quality.”