London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola does not believe his first
season as Manchester City manager should be classed as a failure if he cannot
guide the team to Premier League glory.
Guardiola won the league in his first seasons at
Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but his City side lie 10 points below leaders
Chelsea and in fifth place after Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Liverpool.
He does not see winning the league as the be-all and
end-all of City’s season, however, and says he is relishing the new challenge
of being the hunter rather than the hunted.
“We have put a lot of stress about, ‘Oh, if you don’t
win the Premier League, that is going to be not a good season’,” he told
reporters after the New Year’s Eve defeat at Anfield.
“No, in that situation we’re going to analyse what
happened at the end of the season, what was good, what was bad. Now it’s just
focus on the next game against Burnley.
“I was always on top, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. But
OK, this is a new chapter in my career as a manager to handle that and I am willing
to try it with these guys.”
Chelsea have surged clear at the summit on the back of a
13-game winning streak, but Guardiola does not believe their points advantage
is insurmountable.
“I was one time nine points (behind) with Barcelona,
against Real Madrid I think,” said the Catalan, whose side host Burnley on
Monday.
“It was in February or in March and after we recover
until (the gap was only) four (when Madrid won the league in 2012).
“But the question is, are we able to take the gap to
Chelsea? Now what we have to do is believe in the next game.”
– Jesus jets in –
In contrast to his early experiences with Barcelona and
Bayern, Guardiola is yet to have a transformative effect on City’s fortunes.
City’s style of play has evolved, reflecting the
importance Guardiola places on dominating possession, but they have lost four
times already in the league and have struggled defensively.
Jurgen Klopp, Guardiola’s former Borussia Dortmund
adversary, has had over a year to remould Liverpool and the City manager said
it would take him time to achieve similar results.
“I don’t know, I’m not able to say that,” Guardiola
replied when asked how long it will take for City to become his team.
“Jurgen is here more than one season, one year. It’s
just five months for me. The way we want to play in this league is not that
simple.
“We need a little bit more time. But I’m a guy who’s so
optimistic and we are going to try.”
City’s attempt to chase down Chelsea will be bolstered
by the arrival of Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus following his £27 million ($33
million, 32 million euros) transfer from Palmeiras.
The 19-year-old was due to arrive in Manchester this
weekend and Guardiola expects him to make a swift impact.
“He was three years without holidays, he’s fit, he’s
young,” said Guardiola.
“It was just two or three weeks not training so I don’t
think we’ll be (waiting) too much time (for him) to be fit.”
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