Pep Guardiola says he could feel City’s improvement back in July’s pre-season win over Tottenham.
The two sides locked horns in their first 2017/18 Premier League encounter on Saturday evening, with the Blues running out 4-1 victors – but Guardiola revealed it was the previous meeting where he sensed City could conjure something special this season.
“Last season was last season; this season is completely different,” he told press.
“Tottenham, compared to Chelsea, played the best football in the Premier League.
“I am happy. This season, (I felt) it started going well in LA – in the game against Tottenham.
“In the first game in pre-season, we lost against United. In the second game, we played Tottenham.
“From there, we have taken the level up and down. Against Bournemouth and Southampton, we won in the last minute.
“In general, we maintained the level we started against Tottenham in pre-season.
“We spoke many times in pre-season about playing the big teams. There were no points to play for but we must play them like an official game and maintain that level.
“Three to four months later, we have and I am so happy.”
Hear more from Pep in part two of his City v Tottenham press conference above…
