Pep Guardiola had a stern message for his players after Manchester City’s comfortable 3-0 over West Ham on Saturday, but the way it was delivered should worry Arsenal rather than anyone sitting in the Etihad Stadium dressing room.
Repeatedly on Saturday, Guardiola said elements of the performance against West Ham were “not good” and that his team “must improve.” But as he was delivering the message, the City boss was happy to joke with one reporter about a Christmas jumper he didn’t like, and he laughed that his animated on-field debrief with defender Josko Gvardiol was about “the beaches in Croatia.”
Guardiola knows what it takes to win a title, and he couldn’t look more relaxed about the situation he’s in. It was mirrored on the pitch when the City’s players celebrated Erling Haaland‘s first goal by doing the robot to mimic Rayan Cherki‘s attempt after he scored against Brentford three days earlier.
After beating Crystal Palace, Brentford and West Ham in the space of seven days — all without conceding a goal — City are on a run of seven wins in a row in all competitions. The last time they managed that was at the end of the 2023-24 season when they claimed their fourth consecutive league title.
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Arsenal, two points clear of second-place City, will spend Christmas Day at the top of the table thanks to their hard-fought 1-0 win at Everton later on Saturday. But it won’t be lost on Mikel Arteta that they were also top on Dec. 25 in 2022 and 2023 and were twice chased down by City.
The concern for Arsenal and Arteta is that Guardiola — the master at winning championships after lifting 12 in three countries — is already seeing signs that this group has what it takes.
“We will be there [at the end of the season],” he said in the Etihad’s media theater Saturday. “If they follow me, we will be there, but we have to improve. I know the level in Europe, in the Premier League, I know Arsenal and the other teams and how tough they are, it is not enough.
“The spirit is there. Last season we did not have the spirit or aggression or hunger — all the attributes they need. It is not about the highlights and how good the actions are. There is something that comes from inside.”
Guardiola’s City don’t usually lose title races in which they’re involved. His team hasn’t won the league only three times since his 2016 arrival in Manchester, but each time it was because City were nowhere near the leaders. In 2016-17 — Guardiola’s first season — City finished 15 points behind champions Chelsea. In 2019-20, they were 18 points adrift of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and last season, they finished 13 points behind Arne Slot’s side.
In every other season — six in total — City’s relentlessness after Christmas with the title on the line has been impossible to match for every other contender. Across those six seasons in which City and Guardiola have been crowned champions (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24), they’ve played a total of 95 league games between Feb. 1 and the end of the season. They’ve lost only eight, and at least a handful of those came in May when the title was already won.
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Have Man City gained momentum in the title race?
Steve Nicol assesses Manchester City’s Premier League title prospects after they move top of the table with a win over West Ham.
In 2019 and 2022, City lost once in the run-in. In 2019 and 2024, they went through unbeaten. Two times (in 2018-19 and 2022-23) City were able to put together winning runs at the business end that stretched into double figures. In securing their last title success in 2023-24, Guardiola’s team dropped only six points between Feb. 1 and May 19.
It’s a frightening history of finding form at the right time. Arsenal, meanwhile, are trying to get over the line in a title race for the first time in more than 20 years.
If the question about Arteta’s players is whether they have the mental strength to last the course, the doubt about City is whether they’re still the same team that won the Premier League four times in a row between 2021 and 2024.
The experience and leadership of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan, Kyle Walker and Éderson is gone. Rodri, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic are struggling with injuries. In the past few weeks, Guardiola has talked about his team being one in “a little bit of transition.”
He said the Champions League trip to Real Madrid would be a learning experience for the likes of Nico O’Reilly, Nico González, Matheus Nunes, Jérémy Doku, Savinho and Cherki. Equally, the two-legged Carabao Cup semifinal against Newcastle in the new year has been identified as another chance to prove they can make the step from a good team to trophy winners.
For now, though, Guardiola is cutting a relaxed figure. Right in mix with more than half the season left to play is exactly where he wants to be. As much as there was a warning delivered to City’s players after their win over West Ham, the alarm bells will be ringing for Arsenal.