It’s April. The pressure is on. This is Manchester City’s time of year
By Sam Lee
Judging by repeated examples in the very recent past, you would have to admit that this is Manchester City’s time of year.
That feeling that City will, come what may, put a winning run together stems from the fact that, well, they always do.
It is not always at this time of year: sometimes they do it much earlier, and that allows them to take their focus off the Premier Leagueand focus on, say, getting to the Champions Leaguefinal.
But in 2018-19, they won their final 14 league fixtures to beat Liverpoolto the title by a single point. In 2021-22, they did not lose any of their final 12 league matches, albeit with the luxury of drawing three of them, to again beat Liverpool to the title by a point.
And last season, things clicked spectacularly at the end of March/start of April, with City winning 12 in a row in the league, while getting to the finals of the FA Cupand Champions League, too.
So the long and the short of it is that, if this lot are in a title race, they get the job done.
It annoys Pep Guardiola when this is taken for granted. City’s manager will say that just because something has happened in the past it does not mean that it will happen again in the future, and that is completely true. There cannot be another way. There are no guarantees.
But even that unarguable point is undermined by the fact that City always do it, so you would be foolish to expect them not to.
Everything that Guardiola and the players say during the season also tends to back up the idea that they needthe pressure of having to win game after game in the spring to be at their best.
At the start of this season, after City had won six games in a row, Kyle Walkersaid he saw no reason why his team could not take a title race by storm and win it early, without having to rely on a big finish. They duly had a dip that lasted from October to December, meaning they are in the same position again.
There have been times, too, when Guardiola suggests that it is the feeling of “now or never”, despite the demands of the calendar, the pressure of every match and the tiredness, that brings City to their very best.
And after an excellent display against Aston Villa in midweek, where they showed encouraging energy levels to win the ball back whenever they lost it, and after another superb win on the road at Crystal Palace on Saturday— when they had some shaky moments but also managed to keep those wobbles at bay for about 70 minutes — it is tempting to believe that things are all coming together again, as they always do, for all the same reasons.
And they may well do.
But it was interesting listening to Guardiola after the match.
“We were not solid, like we normally are with the well-organised defence and transitions,” he said. “We give away the first goal and other actions, but it’s more the consequences for the fact of (a match every) three days, three days.
“The mental energy we waste — more than physical — is tremendous, which is why it sometimes happens. But today Kevin (De Bruyne) won us the game. This type of game, sometimes it’s Phil (Foden), Erling (Haaland) or Julian (Alvarez) — the people up front. Today, Kevin. Without him today maybe we’d not be able to win.”
City always plough on regardless, though, so what is different now?
“The difference is because we have more injured players than last season,” Guardiola elaborated. “If we had Kyle and Nathan (Ake) today, it would be easier today and for the future.
“It would give more time for John (Stones) to recover, to make an incredible effort to play (against Palace, having been forced off by injury in England’s game against Belgium 11 days earlier). The contribution from (Manuel) Akanjiwas unbelievable. Mainly the reason (for the difference) is that, compared to previous seasons.
“We are going to try, but it’s difficult to fight for all competitions. I (have experienced) these things a few times, I’m a lucky guy for that — to arrive in the latter stages of the competitions — but if you don’t have a full squad, you are not (able to do it).
“We have players in the (March international) friendly games playing 96, 96, 90, 94 and 90 minutes, then they are not here. With that, it is more difficult (to fight in all competitions), I would say almost, almost no chance.
“You need everyone (to be) fresh to compete in them (all the competitions). You can do it in a short time, but then you have Madrid (Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu), after (that) come back for Luton (at home on Saturday), three days Madrid again, FA Cup semi-final (the following weekend) against Chelsea, (all) when we have injured players.
“A human being cannot sustain a long, long time playing every three days. At the same time, we have an incredible competitive mindset from the players. They have proved that to us for many years, and every week is one week less to the end of the season. Now there are seven games left in the Premier League; that’s why all players make an incredible effort to try to continue to do it.”
Guardiola sounds pessimistic about his side’s chances of another treble this time around. Not because he does not believe they have the required fight or quality, but because their small squad — which is his preference — is depleted by some injuries.
Getting players back and then keeping them fit is going to have a huge bearing on how this season finishes for City.
Nobody would be surprised if they rack up the wins again and lift a trophy or two but, if they do not manage it this time, we have been warned.
https://theathletic.com/5395617/2024/04/07/manchester-city-pressure-guardiola/
It’s April. The pressure is on. This is Manchester City’s time of year
By Sam Lee
Judging by repeated examples in the very recent past, you would have to admit that this is Manchester City’s time of year.
That feeling that City will, come what may, put a winning run together stems from the fact that, well, they always do.
It is not always at this time of year: sometimes they do it much earlier, and that allows them to take their focus off the Premier Leagueand focus on, say, getting to the Champions Leaguefinal.
But in 2018-19, they won their final 14 league fixtures to beat Liverpoolto the title by a single point. In 2021-22, they did not lose any of their final 12 league matches, albeit with the luxury of drawing three of them, to again beat Liverpool to the title by a point.
And last season, things clicked spectacularly at the end of March/start of April, with City winning 12 in a row in the league, while getting to the finals of the FA Cupand Champions League, too.
So the long and the short of it is that, if this lot are in a title race, they get the job done.
It annoys Pep Guardiola when this is taken for granted. City’s manager will say that just because something has happened in the past it does not mean that it will happen again in the future, and that is completely true. There cannot be another way. There are no guarantees.
But even that unarguable point is undermined by the fact that City always do it, so you would be foolish to expect them not to.
Everything that Guardiola and the players say during the season also tends to back up the idea that they needthe pressure of having to win game after game in the spring to be at their best.
At the start of this season, after City had won six games in a row, Kyle Walkersaid he saw no reason why his team could not take a title race by storm and win it early, without having to rely on a big finish. They duly had a dip that lasted from October to December, meaning they are in the same position again.
There have been times, too, when Guardiola suggests that it is the feeling of “now or never”, despite the demands of the calendar, the pressure of every match and the tiredness, that brings City to their very best.
And after an excellent display against Aston Villa in midweek, where they showed encouraging energy levels to win the ball back whenever they lost it, and after another superb win on the road at Crystal Palace on Saturday— when they had some shaky moments but also managed to keep those wobbles at bay for about 70 minutes — it is tempting to believe that things are all coming together again, as they always do, for all the same reasons.
And they may well do.
But it was interesting listening to Guardiola after the match.
“We were not solid, like we normally are with the well-organised defence and transitions,” he said. “We give away the first goal and other actions, but it’s more the consequences for the fact of (a match every) three days, three days.
“The mental energy we waste — more than physical — is tremendous, which is why it sometimes happens. But today Kevin (De Bruyne) won us the game. This type of game, sometimes it’s Phil (Foden), Erling (Haaland) or Julian (Alvarez) — the people up front. Today, Kevin. Without him today maybe we’d not be able to win.”
City always plough on regardless, though, so what is different now?
“The difference is because we have more injured players than last season,” Guardiola elaborated. “If we had Kyle and Nathan (Ake) today, it would be easier today and for the future.
“It would give more time for John (Stones) to recover, to make an incredible effort to play (against Palace, having been forced off by injury in England’s game against Belgium 11 days earlier). The contribution from (Manuel) Akanjiwas unbelievable. Mainly the reason (for the difference) is that, compared to previous seasons.
“We are going to try, but it’s difficult to fight for all competitions. I (have experienced) these things a few times, I’m a lucky guy for that — to arrive in the latter stages of the competitions — but if you don’t have a full squad, you are not (able to do it).
“We have players in the (March international) friendly games playing 96, 96, 90, 94 and 90 minutes, then they are not here. With that, it is more difficult (to fight in all competitions), I would say almost, almost no chance.
“You need everyone (to be) fresh to compete in them (all the competitions). You can do it in a short time, but then you have Madrid (Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu), after (that) come back for Luton (at home on Saturday), three days Madrid again, FA Cup semi-final (the following weekend) against Chelsea, (all) when we have injured players.
“A human being cannot sustain a long, long time playing every three days. At the same time, we have an incredible competitive mindset from the players. They have proved that to us for many years, and every week is one week less to the end of the season. Now there are seven games left in the Premier League; that’s why all players make an incredible effort to try to continue to do it.”
Guardiola sounds pessimistic about his side’s chances of another treble this time around. Not because he does not believe they have the required fight or quality, but because their small squad — which is his preference — is depleted by some injuries.
Getting players back and then keeping them fit is going to have a huge bearing on how this season finishes for City.
Nobody would be surprised if they rack up the wins again and lift a trophy or two but, if they do not manage it this time, we have been warned.
https://theathletic.com/5395617/2024/04/07/manchester-city-pressure-guardiola/
