Guardiola not giving up title chase but insists 'nextseason, we will be back'

West Ham denied the visitors a win on Saturday.

SLIPPING BACK: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola watches from the stands during the Premier League match at the London Stadium.

Pep Guardiola might have claimed before Manchester City’s draw with West Ham on Saturday that any more dropped points would mean the title race with Arsenal is over, but he insists he is not ready to give up just yet.

City had 24 shots to West Ham’s one at the London Stadium but could only find the back of the net once through Bernardo Silva’s first-half chip, with former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos doing his old side a favour by heading in an equaliser from a corner before the break.

Guardiola was left to rue similar failings from his side in the 1-1 draw, and his admission that this City team is not like those of previous campaigns in which they managed to pip Arsenal to the title should provide encouragement to the north London side that they can finally get over the line this season.

“We have five or six players in the box to score a goal,” Guardiola explained. “We are not asking players to make an action to dribble past seven players and scoring a goal.

“We miss simple things in the box. Defensively as well. We conceded a goal that should be avoided.

“We have 24 shots... we are not able to score two or three or four. In Leeds we won 0-1. We didn’t win 0-3 or 0-4. 0-1.

“We are, in many things, good, but not like we were.” 

The gap to league leaders Arsenal now sits at nine points, though with City having played a game less than their rivals, who they also still have to face at the Etihad Stadium in April.

There has been speculation, yet again, that this season could be Guardiola’s last at Manchester City, which would bring to an end a trophy-laden ten years at the club.

But his latest comments suggest the hunger to get City back to the very top of English football is a challenge he is more than up for.

“With eight games left we have to accept it and finish the season better,” he continued. “The quicker we improve the better it will be for the present and for the future, for next season.

“This is what we have to do. I like my team. I know today modern football is not (like that) but still I like it so until the end we continue.

“Next season we will be back.” 

Whether City can improve enough in the short term to propel them above Arsenal with just eight games remaining is looking more and more unlikely by the week, however.

While Arsenal’s success has been built on defensive solidity and an ability to get over the line when they are not at their free-flowing best, as they did in their 2-0 win against Everton on Saturday, City are the opposite.

They have been unable to shake the vulnerabilities that have plagued them all season long, struggling to make their huge share of possession count against teams who sit deep and look to play on the counter, as West Ham did on Saturday.

While City have often needed numerous chances to score, their opponents have instead been able to find the back of the net too easily and with one of the few chances they manage to create.

Pulling off a miraculous comeback against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday would certainly be a start to answering those doubts, however.

That City have not been written off by many in the tie, despite trailing 3-0 from the first leg at the Bernabeu, is a testament to the belief Guardiola has instilled and the success he has had.

That belief, he says, must come from the players themselves and not their manager, however.

“If they don’t believe, that’s his problem,” he said.

“They’re adults, they have good salaries. If they don’t believe in that for the Champions League then go home, stay home.

“We have to try. What do we have to lose?” 

Guardiola and City are still very much in with a chance of ending the season with yet more silverware, facing Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final later this month while also taking on an out of sorts Liverpool in the next stage of the FA Cup in April.

But going two years without a Premier League title, having previously won six in seven years prior to last season, would be a stark indication that this City side is not what they were.

And whether this new-look squad can ever get to the levels of previous City sides is still very much uncertain.