Pep Guardiola has surprisingly claimed that his current Manchester City side is the "worst" team he has managed.
Man City are currently top of the Premier League by 14 points, favourites to go through to the Champions League quarter-finals against Borussia Monchengladbach this week and are still in both domestic cup competitions (with a Carabao Cup final against Tottenham to come in April).
Amid talk of a historic quadruple, however, Guardiola was quick to play his team's achievements this season down, mainly as this side have not won any trophies at all in 2020/21.
"Right now it is worst that the previous ones," Guardiola said, per the Mirror. "Because they won a lot and this team this year hasn't won anything.
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"We are evaluated by the results, for the success, for the titles we can lift - especially from outside.
"The previous Man City won and this team still has to prove it."
So we see what Pep is doing here. The Catalan coach recently scolded his own player, Oleksandr Zinchenko, after the left-back said City were eyeing the quadruple.
Clearly he's doing the old 'treat them mean, keep them keen' approach by publicly reminding his players - and everyone else - that City haven't actually won anything yet among all the talk of a record-breaking season.
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But, Pep being Pep, he's taken it to the extreme of saying this is his "worst" team until they prove otherwise. Even through it's pretty difficult to have actually won silverware by mid-March.
Statistically, Guardiola's toughest career season was probably his first at Man City in 2016/17. After a strong start and six straight wins in the league, City ended up third - 15 points behind Antonio Conte's Chelsea - and without any honours at all by the end of the season.
It's been a different story for Guardiola since, of course. And while it is still theoretically possible that this campaign's City side could finish empty-handed, despite being bookies favourites for every competition they are in, it seems a highly unlikely outcome.
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Even Guardiola, clearly guarding against all types of complacency, might concede that.
All imagery: PA Images
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Premier League