Our superb 3-1 win away to Arsenal in midweek saw the reigning champions leapfrog the Gunners to move top of the table for the first time in four months, albeit with the Londoners having a game in hand.
Once again proving one of the pivotal elements in City’s push for silverware has been the squad’s cohort of senior leaders, who are helping push standards and a desire to get the best out of every player.
Asked at his pre match press conference ahead of Saturday’s latest Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest, how important having such a leadership group was to City’s quest for success, the boss was unequivocal in his response.
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And assessing the state of play at the top of the table in the wake of Wednesday’s huge result in North London, Guardiola said his side were where we had wanted us to be at this stage of the season.
“Without doubt (having strong leadership) is the most important thing,” Guardiola declared.
“I have had some huge characters at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here. In a tough moment, they [leaders] take a step forward and go there without fear.
“Playing good or bad is not the most important thing in a long season, especially when trying to win titles.
“The quality of play is impossible to maintain in every single week, when you are playing three times in a week.
“We are in the position I could have dreamed to be at the start of the season.
“I would not have expected to be a lot of points in front after winning titles back-to-back, it’s almost impossible.
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“We are there again, with 15 games to go. Close to the top of the league, (and) we want to be there with eight, 10 games to go and then we must make the last rush and effort.”
Guardiola was also asked about Manuel Akanji’s revelation that City’s leadership group had helped spark dialogue amongst the squad to further inspire performance and improvement.
From his perspective the boss said he encouraged his players to talk and find solutions to help drive everyone to do better.
“We have been here for many years. Manuel arrived lately, also when you are in the locker room you see many, many things quickly,” the City boss added.
“It’s not necessary sometimes to tell you how is your position, how we are doing in the past, our standards in the past.
“They know exactly who we are. They know they have to do better if they want to compete at the highest level.
“Not necessarily through the media. Sometimes it’s good that they talk to each other.
“They can talk and say we need to do it better otherwise we have no chance. It’s good because at the end they play.
“They are the artists and they have to take the solutions and decisions on the pitch.”
