Pep Guardiola says the past decade has been one of sustained progress for City...
Though the Catalan only began his City adventure in 2016, he acknowledged the work done by his predecessors Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini in make the Club a force to be reckoned with in English football over the last 10 years.
“The Club has made incredible step over the last decade with different managers and different players continuing the progress and in 10 years, we have won four Premier League titles, which isn’t bad considering the quality of this league,” said Pep.
“But football is about periods and we were incredible for two seasons, but right now, we have lost more games than the last two seasons so you have to adapt, analyse and move forward. – and we will do that.”
After Friday’s exhausting defeat to Wolves, the boss added he wasn’t sure who will be in his starting XI against Sheffield United on Sunday and will wait until Sunday before selecting his squad.
Asked if he knew his team already, he said: “I am not able to respond right now because on Saturday and then the day of the game, I have to evaluate my players.
“Of course, we will have to use fresh legs because Sheffield United are so physical, but after our game at Wolves, I don’t know my players’ condition, how they are going to recover or how they will feel – we will see.
“We have to wait until Sunday when will have another chance to play and fight for the second position.”
The Catalan also said that Sergio Aguero is not ready for a full 90 minutes yet -and that his match fitness was the reason he was sacrificed so early at Molineux.
“Sergio is not ready to play a full game. He was maybe six weeks injured and has had four or five training sessions,” said Pep.
“If Gabriel had been fit, maybe he would have started against Wolves, so when we went down to 10 men, I wanted players with energy and physicality and Sergio isn’t there yet but will be again soon.”
And of his penalty-taker options, Pep said he wasn’t concerned by Raheem Sterling’s two missed spot-kick attempts against Wolves, indicating he is happy with whoever feels confident at the time.
“I like the courage – in the last game I said for Gundo to take it but in this game, Raheem decided to do it and the mentality and courage to take the penalties is extraordinary,” he said.
