M anchester City boss Pep Guardiola has taken a swipe at Premier League leaders Liverpool, reminding them of their inability to match City’s historic 100-point record.
Guardiola’s side, currently trailing 16 points behind Liverpool, have seen their hopes of a fifth successive English title all but vanish. The Reds, leading second-placed Arsenal by seven points, are closing in on their 20th league title, which would equal Manchester United’s record.
However, even if Arne Slot’s side secures the trophy, they are now mathematically incapable of surpassing the record points total City achieved during Guardiola’s first title-winning season in 2017-18.
“We set all the records in England. Who would do 100 points now in modern football? I’m waiting,” Guardiola quipped to reporters on Friday, responding to criticism of City’s struggles this season, exacerbated by their 3-2 home defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off first leg.
“Or four in a row? I’m waiting – with clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham, and Wolves that you have to play. The standards, we dictated. Have you seen Liverpool this season? They cannot do 100 points already – 99, but not 100.”
Despite his jabs at Liverpool, Guardiola acknowledges that City have not met expectations this season. The reigning champions, currently fifth, have failed to replicate the consistency of previous campaigns.
“I asked ‘Gundo’ (Ilkay Gundogan) yesterday, ‘two years ago you were here, you were one year in Barcelona and you come back here, did you see changes in the Premier League?’” Guardiola revealed.
“He said massively, the difference was unbelievable. It’s the truth. The teams are much, much, much better in all departments. People prepare so well.
“We cannot do it for the (injury) problems we’ve had. There are a lot of players, with the amount of minutes they have had, who are so tired, emotionally as well.
“But guys, we deserve to have a bad season. We deserve not to be like we were. They are human beings, it can happen. We weren’t consistent and we haven’t had the players at their best.
“It’s the first time that me and many of the players have lived this position but we have to accept it and recognize that what happened in the past was not normal.”
Guardiola also pointed to City’s struggles in capitalizing on their usual dominance of possession as a key factor in their decline.
“I accept when the opponents have the ball, I’m going to suffer,” he admitted. “But now we are suffering when we have the ball. It never happened before and, right now, I cannot change it. We are suffering because we are human beings.”
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