Pep Guardiola has said he remains as motivated as ever after almost a decade managing Manchester City as he chases a seventh Premier League title. His comments come amid a backdrop of the club making contingency plans to replace the Spaniard if he decides to leave in the summer. Guardiola has a further year remaining on his contract but City have made Enzo Maresca a leading candidate to take over as head coach, should a change be required.
Guardiola is focused on his first visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday to face Everton, aiming to close the six-point gap on Arsenal. The Gunners have played twice since City’s last league match, defeating Newcastle and Fulham.
“I wouldn’t be 10 years, even with good titles, if I didn’t have an incredible environment,” Guardiola said. “Now I feel more, I don’t know … happy, not happy, but I don’t know … still have incredible energy, still I’m so good, coming here to work on my day off.”
He added: “I love when Gundo [Ilkay Gündogan] came back from Barcelona and said, ‘Man City is top, top’. You know, when that happens, we are in a good way. That’s why we are consistently in the Champions League for the last 12, 13, 14 years. That’s why we are always fighting for the titles, because they are consistent around the tactics, the systems, the players, the managers. It’s like a bubble that makes people feel good.”
Guardiola admitted he finds chasing a treble less stressful than last season when City were fighting to even qualify for the Champions League. City are battling Arsenal for the title and will face Chelsea in the FA Cup final later this month as they seek to end the campaign with a trio of trophies.
“The hours before the game, I feel it [pressure] but the process between games I am more calm. Last season was 24 hours thinking ‘what will happen at the club if we will not qualify for the Champions League?’ I felt it a lot,” Guardiola said. “This season we won the Carabao Cup, [reached the] FA Cup final again and still fighting against Arsenal, so what can I say? It is really good. I would have loved to go through in the Champions League but the level is higher and it will be good learnings for me for the next season.”
Meanwhile, David Moyes has criticised Tyler Dibling’s application at Everton and admitted he is “looking for a lot more” from the England Under-21 international.
Dibling has been a major disappointment since his £35m arrival from Southampton in the summer and his opportunities have decreased as the season has progressed. The 20-year-old has started four Premier League games but has featured only once since 31 January, and that was as an 89th-minute substitute against Burnley. Tyrique George, a January loan signing from Chelsea, has overtaken Dibling in the Everton pecking order.
“It’s where he is,” said Moyes of Dibling’s playing time over the past three months. “He’ll have to do better. He’ll have to do better in his work and in his training. We brought in Tyrique who is of a similar age and as competition to make sure we were covered.
“I think Tyrique has done well in the moments he’s had in games and shown some bits that we like, so we want Tyler to step up, we really do. He’s important to us. He’s a player who we put a lot of faith and money into to bring here so we are looking for a lot more. We are not panicking with it because of his age. We want him to step up, we are hoping that he’ll improve and next year will be a big year for him to see if he can do that.”
Everton are in talks over a new contract for Harrison Armstrong, who has also played more regularly than Dibling since returning from a successful loan spell at Preston in January. The homegrown midfielder is under contract until 2028 but Everton plan to reward Armstrong’s development with an improved deal.
