Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola claims his current focus is on improving the overall performance of his team rather than chasing trophies as the Cityzens prepare to take on EFL Cup holders Newcastle United in Tuesday’s semi-final at St. James’ Park.
Having enjoyed years and years of domestic dominance in the English top flight, Guardiola and Manchester City endured something of a disaster campaign last season as they struggled to meet up with their lofty standards set in past years and finished without a trophy for the first time ever in the former Barcelona boss’ tenure at the Etihad.
This season, Guardiola appears to be conducting a steady rebuild, with massive investment in his playing squad and a consistent uptick in results. The Cityzens are currently unbeaten in their last 12 outings across all competitions and remain firmly in the mix to vie for four different trophies this term, including the Premier League where they trail leaders Arsenal by just six points.
For Guardiola though, silverware is not the most important objective for Manchester City this season. The City boss is more concerned about improving the performances of his team and getting them back to those levels that enabled them win four consecutive Premier League titles.
“It’s not about winning or not winning trophies, it’s about how the team grows up, how the team is better,” Guardiola said during his pre-match press conference ahead of the Newcastle clash as revealed by quotes from BBC Sport.
“Last season we didn’t deserve to win more than just one trophy [Community Shield], because we didn’t play good. The satisfaction to win a trophy when we are not playing good can happen – knock-out stages, being lucky. It’s not about that, believe me.
“We are here to make the team play better. The satisfaction to make a good performance for ourselves, and our fans to say, ‘We had fun during 95 minutes’ – that is the point. And the next game, things that we can do better, do it better. That is the target, and all the time it has been like that. And when you are in that process, at the end you fight for the titles and can win it.”
Manchester City will make the trip to St. James’ Park for the first of a two-legged semi-final on Tuesday, January 13 before hosting the return leg at the Etihad Stadium next month. A place in the final against one of either Arsenal or Chelsea is the reward that awaits the winners of this clash.
