Pep Guardiola has also warned that Manchester City cannot be expected to win Doubles and Trebles every single season after their disappointment in losing the FA Cup final
Pep Guardiola has admitted some of his title-winning squad could decide to leave this summer.
Guardiola has also warned that Manchester City cannot be expected to win Doubles and Trebles every single season after their disappointment in losing the FA Cup final.
City boss Guardiola has set his standards so high that only winning the Premier League this season – and with it, a history-making fourth consecutive title – feels like a disappointment.
It does feel like a crossroads for this City team because Kevin De Bruyne will be 33 this summer and has been targeted by mega-rich Saudi Pro League clubs even if the Belgium midfielder wants to stay.
Barcelona are long-term admirers of Bernardo Silva while keeper Ederson has also been on the radar of Saudi clubs. City were so dominant in winning the Treble last year that it was always going to be difficult to emulate that level of success.
But Guardiola says his players have still been “amazing and extraordinary” and sometimes City face unrealistic expectations. Guardiola said: “Next season is far away. It’s difficult for me to process, especially after winning the Premier League. Now we need to relax and we will be back as fresh as possible.
“Next season we’ll have to go step by step, we’ll see what happens, what squad we will have. We have to start to work and after that we will see. My feeling is that this season has been amazing.
“I know some players have to make a decision on whether they stay with us, some players might come. I’m really pleased with the team, how they’ve behaved all season. I could not say differently.
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“It was nice to be in this final, but unfortunately we lost, after what we did in the Premier League and the Champions League. People say every season we have to win Trebles and Doubles – we are good but we are not that good.
“We tried, we were there until the end. We lost a game because in finals a lot of things can happen in moments, mistakes, decisions and it can influence the game. My sporting director says everything is fine for next year but right now I don’t know what might happen.”
Guardiola also insists that City should reflect on the season as a whole with great pride, including their Champions League campaign where they only went out to Real Madrid on penalties after their quarter-final was tied on aggregate.
Guardiola said: “The team have been extraordinary, the way we played in the CL where we didn’t lose one game. Maybe we did not have the rhythm in the first half, they played long and they’ve struggled this season.
“They gave everything today to perform as well as possible. In the second half we were better and we had the chances to equalise, to reduce the margins.”
City also stayed on the pitch after their Wembley disappointment in a classy gesture to watch Manchester United lift the trophy. Guardiola added: “You have to stay and give respect to the opponent.
“We played to win, they deserved it, congratulations. I could say a few things but I’ll just say congratulations. It’s not going to change next season. They lift the trophy and we just have to do better.”
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