Guardiola reveals key to Man City title push and Arsenal warning

Guardiola reveals key to Man City title push and Arsenal warning

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has explained the key factors behind his side’s resurgence this season while issuing a warning to title rivals Arsenal in the Premier League race.

The Citizens briefly displaced the Gunners at the top of the table after a dramatic late win over Nottingham Forest last Saturday, only for Mikel Arteta’s men to reclaim first place with a victory over Brighton later the same day.

After lifting the league title for four straight seasons, City endured a difficult campaign last term, suffering a sharp decline in form from November 2024 through to the season’s conclusion.

Reflecting on City’s impressive revival this season, Guardiola said: 0"Energy, energy, energy. The energy we lost last season, everyone started to train better and compete better (when we were in America).

"Energy. That’s the first action, after we can talk about the back four, the wingers (but first) it has to be energy. When we went out to Al-Hilal it wasn’t the fact we didn’t win the Club World Cup - it was the fact we were so good there. It wasn’t holidays. I was annoyed because we were good there.

"Good in the training, the players in Boca Raton, in front of the beach, everyone was happy, we made a lot of dinners, a lot of talks on what was going to happen this season. And we wanted to extend to live there.

"But after that I spoke with Pep (Lijnders), James (French), Manel (Estiarte), Hugo (Viana), Txiki (Begiristain), and something changed. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win but to recognise a team who can do eight wins in a row and compete in the way we do it. Can we improve? Absolutely, but this mindset is better."