Manchester City will feel ‘squeaky bum time’ against Tottenham, admits Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola says the prospect of Manchester City becoming the first English club in history to win four consecutive league titles has “ignited something in all our heads” as he challenged his players to seize a moment he believes will never come again.
Victory over Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday night will move City two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table heading into the final day on Sunday and within touching distance of a sixth championship in seven seasons.
Guardiola believes City “have something unique in front of our eyes” and says the chance of carving another slice of history 12 months after becoming only the second English team to win the Treble has galvanised the club.
“In the beginning of the season, no, we didn’t think about the four Premier Leagues,” the City manager said. “If we are in February, March, April, we are still there, we can still do it but after it ignites something in all our heads that says guys no team has done it.
“That shows you how hard it is. Liverpool in the 80s, Sir Alex Ferguson’s [Manchester] United in the 90s, Chelsea with [Roman] Abramovich and Jose [Mourinho] and Arsenal with [Arsene] Wenger didn’t do it. So if it’s not been done, it’s difficult It’s as simple as that.
“To do something that in this country no team has done, you have to do something special, exceptional I would say. It has not happened in the Premier League ever and we have to do it this time. History is in front of us and we have to accept that we have not done it – it is the time to do it. Otherwise Arsenal will be champions.
“The older guys can win their sixth in seven years. It’s not going to happen again. People remember the winners. We played really good against [Real] Madrid [in the Champions League quarter-finals] but it was not enough. We have the chance [in the Premier League].”
City have won just once in six visits to Tottenham’s new ground and never in the league, with Ange Postecoglou bidding to become the fifth different Spurs manager after Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte to beat Guardiola’s side at the ground.
Guardiola looked momentarily bemused when asked if this represented “squeaky bum time” for his players and needed his press officer to translate the meaning of Ferguson’s famous phrase to describe those pressure cooker moments in seasons when fans are left shifting restlessly on their seats.
Unbeaten in 21 league matches since a defeat at Aston Villa in early December, City have been relentless in their efficiency and looked completely unfazed in recent weeks, racking up 15 goals in their last four league outings and conceding just once. But Guardiola insisted there would be nerves come kick-off.
“Tomorrow we will feel the tension and the nerves, of course,” he said. “Of course I will feel it, otherwise it would be a bad sign. Focus on what they have to do, to read what will happen in the game and don’t be so excited or take bad decisions and make my players a little bit anxious. Because of my behaviour, sometimes it happens - unfortunately for me and the team.”
Gary Neville, the former United captain, claimed in February that City’s dominance had become “boring” but this will be the fifth time the club’s quest for an eighth Premier League title will have gone down to the final day.
City have often faced criticism for the money they have spent en route to their success while a shadow has hung over the club during the 15 months since they were hit with 115 charges by the Premier League for alleged financial irregularities, which they deny.
But Guardiola insisted there was nothing boring about City’s success and that if it was solely down to money that United, Chelsea and Arsenal – all of whom have had far higher net spends than City over the past five seasons – should all have been more successful.
“It’s boring? It’s not. It’s so difficult,” Guardiola said. “But before do you know what it was? It was the money, for that reason why: Man United should have won all the titles. All of them. And the second Chelsea all the titles. And the third Arsenal…all the titles. They spend as much money in the last five years than us. They should be there. They are not there. For that reason Girona shouldn’t be in the Champions League, and Leicester shouldn’t win the Premier League years ago. Now it’s boring? It’s not boring. It’s so difficult to be here again and we want to win it.”
