Pep Guardiola feels that Manchester City’s strong start to the season will be important in the later stages of the competition, given the extended break in November and December due to the World Cup.
To assess City’s performances across the first two weeks of the new season as 'strong' would be an understatement.
The defending Premier League champions moved past a threatening West Ham side to open the season, before they breezed past the recently promoted Bournemouth in their home opener.
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When it comes to offence, Manchester City have also been churning out goals - whether it was Erling Haaland’s brace against the Hammers, or the combined four-goal effort against the Cherries.
However, when reflecting on his team’s performance throughout the first two weeks, manager Pep Guardiola praised his defenders who have limited their opposition’s attacking chances resulting in two consecutive clean sheets.
“The fact we conceded one shot on target (against Bournemouth) and in the game against West Ham, apart from Michail Antonio with the header and Declan Rice, we didn’t concede much,” said Pep Guardiola.
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The Catalan manager also discussed how important it is to succeed in the early parts of the season, with the points from the early fixtures helping out later on in the season when the schedule can become more congested.
Guardiola recounted Manchester City losing in the opening weeks of the season which came back to bite them later in the season as they lost their title race with Liverpool during the 2019/20 season.
“But we cannot forget three seasons ago when Liverpool won the Premier League, we lost five points in the first five games,” explained Guardiola.
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Despite the Blues’ early season success, their head coach knows that they still have a full season ahead of them which will be full of different challenges for them to overcome.
“We are not champions of the Premier League (yet), that’s for sure.”
“There are more than 100 points to play but I have no complaints, especially zero goals (conceded),” said the 51-year-old.
One of those challenges will be the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, which will coincide with an international break period, going from late-November to mid-December.
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This break has the potential of harming Manchester City according to Guardiola, as the break falls when the club is usually in the swing of things, winning game after game.
“Always in this period (early season) we drop points, (then) after we make maybe 12, 13, 14 games in a row winning,” said Guardiola.
“This year that isn’t going to happen because when we are strongest - October, November, December - this is the World Cup.”
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With the World Cup 95 days away, yet still looming, the Catalan’s squad prepares for their clash with the Magpies as they travel to Newcastle with the hopes of making it three straight wins.
Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Premier League, Football
Declan Harris