Like the great Australian cricket teams under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting who were relentless in their pursuit of record-breaking runs, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become obsessed with winning and reaching new milestones.
Following their historic treble-winning season last year, the Abu Dhabi-owned City became the first English club in history to win four consecutive Premier League titles last month.
But the team that play an exhilarating attacking game have warned their rivals that they are unlikely to rest on their laurels.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Manchester City chairman, says the team have already set their sights on winning a record-extending fifth straight Premier League title.
“What next? Five in a row. That five in a row in our minds happened as soon as the referee blew the final whistle (in the game against West Ham),” Al Mubarak told the Manchester City media team, referring to the team’s 3-1 win over the Hammers on the final day of the season which helped them overcome Arsenal’s spirited challenge for the title.
City ended their campaign with 91 points from 38 matches with the second-placed Arsenal finishing two points behind in what was a thrilling race for the title.
“I remember going down to the pitch and telling almost everybody I saw, excellent. Fantastic result was so proud. But now we’re going for five in a row,” Al Mubarak added.
Since 1926, several teams attempted to win four consecutive English league titles, but none of them succeeded.
“Huddersfield, Arsenal, you had Liverpool in the 80s and then you had, Manchester United, attempted it twice. None of them succeeded,” Al Mubarak said.
“So over 100 years of English football, never any team was able to achieve four Premier League championships in a row. So once that sinks in, you start really appreciating the magnitude of what was achieved. The difficulty, the challenge, the tenacity required.”
No CL heartbreak
The chairman says the club will bounce back from their Champions League quarterfinal defeat on penalties to eventual winners Real Madrid.
After the two teams remained unseparated over two legs with the score tied at 4-4, Real showed nerve of steel on penalties to beat City which enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in open play.
“Let’s be clear. We didn’t lose a single game in the Champions League. No team actually beat us in 90 minutes or 120 minutes. We lost, at the end of the day, at the jeopardy of penalty kicks,” he said.
“And penalty kicks, winner or loser, it’s a flip of a coin. We played against the most decorated team in European football.
“But there’s always a silver lining, that gives us more, hunger, more tenacity, you can see today. I’m delighted. And I think I reflect nicely, or accurately, how our coaching staff, our management team, our leadership, the board, the owner (Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan), and, of course, everybody in our staff, everybody feels obviously proud and delighted with what we achieved this year.”
Pep’s contract
Al Mubarak also opened up about Guardiola’s future at the club. The legendary Spanish manager, who has guided City to six league titles in eight years, has yet to decide on extending his contract which expires in 2025.
“With Pep, we’ve had this conversation many times before over the years of the contract. Pep has always been fully committed to this club and fully committed to every contract he signed with us,” Al Mubarak said.
“I have no doubt that he will continue, his future is always a decision we take together, thoughtfully, at the right time. As we always have done, find the right solution that works for Pep and works for us,” he added before doffing his hat to the manager for turning City into a global giant.
“It’s hard to put in words what Pep has given this organisation and this club. You can look at just records for history’s sake. He has racked up every record almost in the book, managerially.
“And for us as a club and for many of our players over the last eight years, it’s been incredible, from that sense, the records are there and these are records that I think will be very, very hard, to break.”