Pep Guardiola has Manchester City looking unstoppable and he credits his success with being given the time and over £200 million to build his squad in the summer.
The Catalan arrived at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016 with a reputation shaped at Barcelona and Bayern Munich as one of the finest tactical brains in the business.
He was, however, to end his debut campaign at the City helm empty-handed, as he endured a first trophyless season in his glittering coaching career.
While failing to make the immediate impact expected of him, Guardiola has been trusted with getting things right and now has his side unbeaten in 2017-18 to top the Premier League table and wrap up a spot in the last-16 of the Champions League .
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"Last season, we were not able to win one game away in the Champions League and this season we have won two, and hopefully against Shakhtar Donetsk we can do so again," Guardiola told Sky Sports on his learning curve at City ahead of Sunday's clash with Arsenal.
"The people expect that when a new manager comes it, that it can instantly work and sometimes people forget that you need time to settle something.
"Get the players to know each other, to trust each other, to know everything about the Premier League - the opponents, the style of play, the referees - and it doesn't matter how much success you had in the past or not, you need time sometimes.
"Fortunately, I am a lucky guy and I have a club where they give me time to do that, so I don't have the feeling that they don't trust me and that is fascinating. That's why I'm so happy to be here.
"I think the players know that we can do what we do and it is tough for the opponent. We want to continue showing everything we can in every game."
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While City have been patient in waiting for progress on the field, they have spent big in an effort to speed that process along.
Guardiola admits he needed that support from his board, with over £200m invested over the summer in the likes of Ederson, Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, Danilo and Bernardo Silva.
"It's a normal situation because the important generation of players over the last few years got older so it's simple like that,” added the City boss.
“You have to change like you change the manager or change the players, it is what it is.
"Of course it [the squad] is younger, with our strikers and midfielders, then there is Phil [Foden] and the new ones coming through so that's good to have. You have the young ones in our side who are protected with older players like Yaya Toure and Nicholas Otamendi, and we need players who have that experience.
"We play in the Champions League sometimes with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Leory Sane, and I think the age is 21 years on average so in playing on the bigger stages, that is good for the future of the club."
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