Pep Guardiola’s new contract is the perfect response to Manchester City losing four consecutive games for the first time under him.
City have slipped five points behind leaders Liverpool in the title race after being beaten twice and have also lost once in the Champions League and exited the Carabao Cup. But former City defender Joleon Lescott, who was a key figure in the first successes over a decade ago under Roberto Mancini, claims Guardiola deciding to stay on for at least another season is the ideal boost.
“I don’t think any City players are dreading Pep staying,” he said after competing in the Pro-Am Padel Tour in Manchester. “It’s only going to be opposition players thinking that and it’s massive boost for the club and for the team.
“It settles all that noise down. It’s unheard of them losing four in a row, but it’s unheard of any team winning four titles in a row. So take that with a pinch of salt. Pep knows what he’s doing and they will be there or thereabouts at the end.”
Lescott feels City remain the team to beat and says they are victims of their own success because they have set the bar so high. “At the start of the season, you would have thought if you can finish above City, you’ll win the league and that’s still the case,” he said.
“They’ve done it before and they can obviously do it again. They’re probably unfairly measured by their own success, so when it doesn’t go consistently well, then it’s termed as failure.
“It’s very hard to maintain the level they’ve set. No-one’s ever done it before, so we have to recognise that it’s not going to be consistent like that forever.
“There are going to be dips in form and results and that’s what happening to them now. You do forget when you see them for a period of time, you get carried away and take it for granted, which is probably unfair on that group of players.”
Lescott, 42, helped City win their first two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup and says chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has realised his vision for the Blues when he spoke to him when he signed in 2009.
“When I joined, the chairman spelt out to me what we’re seeing now and that was part of the selling point to join the club,” he said. “He told me ‘we’re going to be successful and we want you to be a part of that’. Fair play to the chairman. He knew exactly what he was talking about.”
* CUPRA is the proud sponsor of the Pro-Am Padel Tour 2024. For more information visit www.cupraofficial.co.uk
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