Guardiola: City primed to seize the initiative in EPL race
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is 14 seasons and 809 matches deep into his career as a top-level coach, but he is still plagued by the same feelings of dread and anxiety that he experienced when he first took charge of Barcelona.
No matter how many Champions League finals he has contested, or how many title run-ins he has been involved in, Guardiola has been unable to shake off the self-doubt that enters his mind every time he takes his seat in the dugout.
Whether his team are playing lower-level opposition in the cup or taking part in top-of-the-table showdowns, such as Wednesday’s encounter with Arsenal, Guardiola remains a nervous character and he is unapologetic about it.
“Yes, I get nervous,” Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, said. “Being a little bit nervous is a good sign.
“People in society, teenagers, all of them are [seeking] psychologists for mental health because they don’t accept that being nervous, anxious and scared is part of our lives.
“We don’t have to be perfect. When we educate our kids, they have to be perfect for Instagram and TikTok, and this kind of thing. When I feel that feeling [of nervousness], it’s normal. The problem would be if I didn’t have that feeling.”
In many ways, it is not surprising to hear Guardiola utter these words. Anyone who observes his touchline histrionics on a match day can work out quite easily that he is a man who enjoys living on the edge.
“I like to live with this adrenaline,” Guardiola said. “In the end, I sleep quite well. That is not a problem.”
How City’s players cope with their nerves will also be key, but after being involved in so many huge clashes over the years, Guardiola does not have any concerns in that department.
“The players have experience too,” Guardiola said. “Everyone has to find his own way to prepare . . . music, meditation or whatever, but the team is ready for a big battle.”
Even with more than 24 hours to go until the match, the hype around the clash was significant. TV crews from the UK, Norway and France packed out the press auditorium to listen to Guardiola, who underlined the significance of the match by saying: “If we win, our destiny will be in our hands.”
Being able to catch Arsenal looked like a pipe dream a month ago when Arteta’s side had pulled eight points clear yet, slowly but surely, City have clawed their way back into contention.
City’s 16-match unbeaten run is their best of the season and during that sequence they have also set up an FA Cup final against Manchester United and knocked Bayern Munich out of the Champions League.
The 3-0 first-leg hammering of Bayern, arguably the performance of the season, showed just how destructive City can be, but their manager believes his team will have to be even better against Arsenal.
“I have the feeling that the 4-1 [aggregate] score was a fake,” Guardiola said of the Champions League quarter-final result. “There was not enough distance in both games for it to be 4-1. Sometimes you are good and you lose. Experience gives me the time to analyse a little better — not just the results, but how my team performed.
“I have the feeling that I don’t know if the [performance in the] games against Bayern will be enough to win tomorrow. In some departments we have to improve.”
