Pep Guardiola: Man City's best is yet to come
City chalked up a 15th successive victory on Wednesday night, as bottom club Swansea were swept aside 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium.
They remain 11 points clear at the top and Guardiola insisted ahead of tomorrow’s visit from Tottenham that there would be no let up from the league leaders.
“We can always improve, of course,” said Guardiola after City had backed up their weekend derby victory over Manchester United in style.
“There are always individual mistakes and some movements that are not correct, but the desire to play and win a lot of games is there.
“The performance was so high to have United and Tottenham and in the middle Swansea.
“They are bottom of the league, but we have had so many good comments, that sometimes you can be distracted by this kind of thing, but it was the opposite.”
City now turn their attentions to Spurs, who took four points off them in Guardiola’s first season at the Etihad Stadium.
Spurs have returned to form with three successive wins in all competitions, scoring 10 goals in those victories.
Guardiola said: “Tottenham, with Chelsea, is the best team in the way to play football. They don’t expect the other ones, they want to make their own game. It is another amazing test for us.
“It is every three days; after Tottenham, it is Leicester in the Carabao Cup, so there is not too much time to recover, but we are ready to face them and try to keep that level we have shown in the last period.”
After excelling in Sunday’s derby win, David Silva produced another man-of-the-match display by dictating the tempo of the game and scoring in each half.
Silva has now scored four goals in three games and Guardiola praised the contribution of the Spanish playmaker.
“David is a real leader in the terms that he never hides on the pitch,” said Guardiola.
“I have spoken to him so many times that he has to score goals and win games.
“He has absolutely everything, but sometimes he was thinking more about the pass, but now in the last three games he has scored goals and I think he knows he is a star.”
For his part, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino insists containing City will not be on his mind, as he believes his side can beat Guardiola’s men.
Spurs climbed back into the top four on Wednesday after grinding out a 2-0 win over Brighton and now they turn their attention to the trip to City.
“We’re going to Manchester thinking we can win,” said Pochettino. We’re going to enjoy it, because it’s a fantastic challenge to play against Manchester City. They’re the best team in England and one of the best in Europe. I’m so excited to play, because I love to play against teams and managers like Guardiola, that are the best. I’m so motivated and so happy that we are going to play a team at their best.
“I am so happy and so pleased about the performances in the last few weeks: Three victories in a row.”
There was also the added positive at Wembley that fit-again Erik Lamela started his first competitive fixture since October 2016 and looked bright before being replaced by Dele Alli late on.
Alli had not been left on the bench for a Premier League fixture since November last year and Pochettino bristled at questions surrounding the forward’s omission.
“How does another player at Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool react when they are on the bench? Tottenham is a specialist in creating problems,” said Pochettino.
“Alli was on the bench and then played 20 minutes. He’s an important player for us. How do other players react when they are on the bench?
“Sure they are unhappy. No-one is happy. Everyone on the bench wanted to play.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
