Pep Guardiola said the desire Manchester City displayed when beating Liverpool and Leeds was evidence of why he signed a new contract to stay at the Etihad.
The wins in the Carabao Cup and Premier League came in City’s first two matches since the Qatar World Cup. Guardiola agreed his fresh one-year deal – with the option of another 12 months until the summer of 2025 – during the tournament and urged his side to continue performing as they did against Liverpool and Leeds when they face Everton on New Year’s Eve.
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“It is the results [that matter] – if we are tired of each other then I will not finish this contract,” Guardiola said. “The contract is just paper. If I extend it’s because I have the feeling that we can still play good – like the last two games. We did many good things [in those games] and still have the desire and hunger to do it. When you win a lot, it is easier to handle the situations but on the other side it is: ‘Oh, we have to do it again’. It’s complicated.
“You have no idea how people are going to come back from the World Cup. They are in 25 degrees. And then you come here with this weather, immediately to Elland Road against the most intense team in the Premier League. But they reacted really well, I’d say. The commitment made me feel that ‘let’s try to do it again’. If we don’t do that against these opponents then it won’t be possible. That is the challenge: to do it again. What I’m proud of the most is that we are still there. The same in the Carabao Cup, beating Chelsea [the previous round] and Liverpool.”
City have an opportunity to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to two points before Mikel Arteta’s side face Brighton in Saturday’s evening kick-off. Guardiola said the London club deserved to be top at this stage as they attempt to win the title for the first time since 2004 but believes his side have shown the “desire” to push them all the way.
“Arsenal have done brilliantly and have been better than us so far. For a long time they have not been there and they want to continue being there,” he said. “Their lead is not 15 or 20 points, we are close. I prefer to be closer but we have not finished the first leg [of the championship]. Winning four in five years and seeing the way we played at Leeds, after the contenders all won, I see the desire. The moment I feel something is broken I will resign or not extend.”
Guardiola believes that to retain the title City must keep their focus. “It’s not about Arsenal and Newcastle, it’s about ourselves,” he said. “If you are there it depends on how you perform, not because in the recent decade we were the best team in England.”
