Perhaps it is a sign of how far Manchester City have come. They went 35 years without a major trophy. Now Pep Guardiola is aware of the theory that ending this season with a solitary piece of silverware – plus the Community Shield – would represent a disappointment.
Guardiola does not agree. There are other criteria, particularly in a campaign that has presented difficulties. There may yet be other honours, with Guardiola drawing on his experience from Barcelona and Bayern Munich to swiftly switch attention.
A Carabao Cup winner on Sunday, he is aiming to further his quest for back-to-back FA Cups at Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday night.
“I learnt in the big clubs I was at before and their history that when they win a trophy they go and take a shower and they are thinking in that moment about the next one,” he said.
And yet, as he said, trophies are not everything: “That barometer is the most important thing but for the manager it is not the only one. Whether it is success or not success, there are some seasons you don't win a title and for the manager and players it was an exceptional season for how the team improved and rises.
“How we handled it as a team, how the new players settle: there are many things. It is not just 'winning the title is good, not winning the title is bad,'” Guardiola said. “It’s not a bad season if you lose the Premier League. I just want to be who we are.”
If even a serial winner like him recognises they cannot claim every trophy, every year, the relentless pursuit of honours reflects a transformation within a decade. Guardiola paid tribute to a predecessor for fundamentally altering the attitude at the Etihad Stadium.
“The most important thing was the league when Roberto Mancini was here. It changed the mentality of the club,” he said. “The first one is always the most difficult one.”
The subsequent haul means that, at 19, Phil Foden has won more silverware than Glenn Hoddle got in his career. The teenager’s man-of-the-match performance against Aston Villa at Wembley further fuelled Guardiola’s belief that the sky is the limit for him. “With his behaviour he can achieve whatever he wants,” he said.
In his Barcelona days, Guardiola sometimes used the midfielder Andres Iniesta in the front three. He did likewise with Foden on Sunday, deploying him as a right winger. “People said in pre-season when Leroy [Sane] got injured that we may have to go the transfer market and I said no, because Phil can play in the middle or wide, the same.”
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Ranked: Manchester City squad in order of weekly wages
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Foden is seen as the long-term replacement for David Silva and Guardiola feels they share an impeccable attitude. Rationing the minutes of a player of the Spaniard’s status – “one of the greatest” in the club’s history, according to Guardiola – has been made easier by the captain’s approach.
“That would be difficult if the behaviour was not like David’s, but it’s not,” Guardiola said. “In the last days I was talking with my staff and they said they never saw a player like David do what he does to be fit.”
Sane, however, has not been deemed match fit and will not make his comeback at Hillsborough after six months out, but Guardiola confirmed Claudio Bravo will start. The goalkeeper, who made a vital late save from Bjorn Engels on Sunday, is out of contract in the summer and could leave.
“We are talking, we are thinking what is best for him and the club,” Guardiola said, noting Manchester United have “two incredible goalkeepers” in David de Gea and Sergio Romero as he cited the need for quality back-up for Ederson.
But Joao Cancelo, one of City’s two major summer signings, did not even make the bench for the Carabao Cup final. Guardiola said it is up to the Portuguese if he can earn a place back in the side,
“He has to be himself, open-minded, listen and try to do his best," he said. "It depends on him; you can suggest but the players have to decide.”
Meanwhile, City’s Premier League game with Arsenal, which was postponed because of the Carabao Cup final, could be rearranged for next Wednesday.
