London:
Pep Guardiola pledged that Manchester City will return to the best of the next season after he lost their “soul” during a turbulent campaign that revealed an unexpected shortage of hunger on his side.
Currently in the Premier League, City -who won the previous four English titles -wants to save a bleak year by winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League over the best five years.
Guardiola Nutingham Forest faces in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday, knowing that a defeat in Wembley will condemn them to finish without a big cup for the first time since 2016-17.
But Guardiola is already considering how to avoid the repetition of the amazing city conflicts and believes it has found the solution.
The coach of the city noticed the passion that his players celebrated after Bernardo Silva put them in a 2-1 victory over their competitors in the best five competitors Aston Villa on Tuesday.
It was a unit’s offer that Guardiola did not see earlier this season, when he felt that City achieved a successful thing after winning six from the last seven titles in the Premier League.
“We learn to do a better job,” he told reporters.
“When Bernardo scored the first goal on Tuesday, we celebrated. Body language, emotion.
“We did not celebrate the same way when we recorded in October. These stupid details tell a lot.
“We have to recover the spirit that we went through in the first nine years. We did not have this year.”
Guardiola hopes that his endeavor to ignite his players eventually to bridge the gap on the elected Liverpool.
“The next season will be better. Everyone has learned the lesson. I think we will compete slightly better in the Premier League,” he said.
“I don’t say that we will win it, but we will be more than we are. I think the players understand. You have to fight to defend your club. I’m sure we will return again.”
Guardiola took his heart from the road in which Roderi was trying to inspire his teammates, as the midfielder in Spain recovered from the knee injury that led to his marginalization since September.
“I love it,” Guardiola said. “The man does not play and allow him to be a manager.
“It will help the players, which is the way we create a team. It is a special thing.”
City aims to reach the FA Cup final for a third consecutive season after winning the competition in 2023 and lost last year against Manchester United.
They are facing a difficult test from the Nuno Espereto Santo team after losing 1-0 in the city in the Premier League in March, and as a result of the unexpected pace of Forest for the first Champions League campaign since 1980-1981.
“It would be good to put the final, but we have a serious and difficult competitor. Nuno was incredible,” Guardiola said.
This is the seventh season in a row that the city reached to the semi -finals of the FA Cup, but they raised the cup only twice in the era of Guardiola.
Regardless of the result in Wembley, Guardiola admitted that the season was a failure.
“I said several times that the season was not good, regardless of whether we were reaching the final or we went to the Champions League,” he said.
“Many matches were not good. We will avoid more damage to the club if we win the cup. But what will this season be the Premier League.”