'The most awful sentence' - Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City do NOT have Premier League title race advantage & would 'retire' before bringing up the past

Ewan Gennery
Pep Guardiola Man city 2022-23Getty
GuardiolaManchester CityMikel ArtetaPremier LeagueArsenal

Pep Guardiola has insisted Manchester City have no advantage over Arsenal in the title race as past experiences count for "absolutely nothing".

  • Guardiola will not let complacency creep in
  • Says you must retire if you don't have to prove yourself
  • Insists only advantage in title race is Arsenal's lead

WHAT HAPPENED? Manchester City have won four of the last five Premier League titles, finishing above Liverpool by one point on two of those occasions. Guardiola doesn't think that counts for anything, however, and believes the only advantage in this year's title race is Arsenal's eight-point gap, and that dwelling on the past is the worst thing he and his team could do right now.

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WHAT HE SAID: ā€œThe advantage is eight points in front of us, this is a real advantage," he said in his pre-Liverpool press conference. "The past is the past. Experience doesnā€™t count. Absolutely nothing. Sometimes managers and players say, ā€˜I donā€™t have to show anything, I donā€™t have to demonstrate anything because of what I have done in the pastā€™. Itā€™s the most awful sentence, every time I hear players or managers thinking of that.

"You have to prove it every single day, again and again and again. The past is the past. The memories when you are a grandfather, itā€™s okay, itā€™s nice. But the reality? The people come to the Etihad Stadium tomorrow at 12:30 donā€™t think about what we have done in the past. You have to show (it), you have to, again and again. Otherwise you have to retire."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: City are on course for another epic title race, with Guardiola's side battling Arsenal this time instead of Liverpool. They sit eight points behind the Gunners, but hold a game in hand and host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in late April, a game that could swing the balance of the back end of the season.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

Pep Guardiola Man City 2020-21GettyMikel Arteta ArsenalGetty

WHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY? Guardiola's side kick-off their run-in with a massive clash against Liverpool on April 1. City then face Southampton, a double header against German heavyweights Bayern Munich in the Champions League either side of hosting Leicester, before a season-defining week with an FA Cup semi-final and the showdown against Arsenal.

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