Even the legendary Manchester United and Liverpool teams were unable to accomplish what Manchester City is about to accomplish: winning their fourth Premier League title in a row with two victories remaining.
City boss Pep Guardiola (Image: 2024 CameraSport)
Manchester City’s thoughts were on their potential this season in February. Pep Guardiola now wants his team to create history and reject the clumsy clichés that he believes are being used to minimize their accomplishments.
The City players, defending their treble from the previous season, had questioned one another about how they could top their historic feats from 2023–2024. A few people decided on the quadruple, but the Carabao Cup ended before they could realize their dream. They made up for it with the Super Cup and Club World Cup, and even though Real Madrid ended their Champions League defense last month, they are still on course for another double.
When asked if making history inspired him and his players, Guardiola was eager to highlight that the Blues would become the first team to win four English top-flight titles in a row if they were to win the Premier League.
“In the beginning of the season no, we didn’t think about the four Premier Leagues,” he said. “If we are in February, March, April, we are still there, that we can still do it, it ignites something in all our heads that says: ‘guys, no team has done it, that shows you how hard it is’.”
Guardiola used the legendary teams from Manchester United and Liverpool as well as the more recent successful periods at Chelsea and Arsenal to illustrate his points. He stated: “Liverpool in the 80s, Sir Alex Ferguson’s 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.”
Guardiola also criticized his more contemporary competitors, pointing out that City has spent less on net than several teams that haven’t won a Premier League title in his tenure, with the Blues’ expenditures being comparable to those of the top teams. Guardiola criticized Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United for their lack of success despite what he calculates to be significantly higher spending, citing a ranking of net spend over the previous five seasons.
Guardiola remarked: “Do you know what it was before? Titles were won by the money. Because of this: Man United ought to have taken home every trophy. Every single one of them. And Chelsea won every title in the second. And Arsenal’s third… every single title. Their five-year expenditure total is equal to ours. They ought to be present. They’re not present.
Because of this, Leicester shouldn’t have won the Premier League years ago, and Girona shouldn’t be in the Champions League. Is it boring now? It’s not monotonous. We want to win, but it’s really hard to be here again.
“But you have to do something unique, extraordinary, I would say, to accomplish something that no team in this nation has done before. We need to act this time because it has never occurred in Premier League history. The opportunity to make a difference is now, as history is before us and we must acknowledge that we have not yet done so. Arsenal will win the title if not.”
