Pep Guardiola rejects experience bonus in Manchester City’s Premier League title hunt

Manchester City’s experience in winning Premier League titles has no say on their current battle with Arsenal, Pep Guardiola has insisted.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach has successful guided his Manchester City team to four of the last five Premier League title triumphs in England, losing out to Liverpool during that time.

However, this season presents another stern test for the esteemed coach and his hugely talented squad of players, with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal looking set to take the reigning Champions right down to the wire this season.

The Gunners currently hold a five-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, having recovered from the Sky Blues cutting the gap to just two points temporarily over the weekend through a 0-3 win over Fulham on Sunday.

Despite the gap that separates the two teams in first and second place, some continue to believe that Manchester City’s experience in Premier League title battles will show in the end this campaign – a belief that their head coach rejects.

Speaking after the 0-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday evening, Pep Guardiola insisted that if experience was such a bonus for his Manchester City players, then they would be winning the Premier League title every season.

“Listen, if experience works, the team who wins the previous season will win every single season. Experience in sport is a new challenge. Look, Liverpool lost today against Bournemouth. A few months ago, 9-0. Everything is so difficult,” said the Catalan coach.

“What they have done in the past, is the past. You have to do it again because football is unpredictable. Nobody expects many things to happen in football, the people take for granted and it is not the truth. So the reality is still we are there and this is the biggest.”

Guardiola continued, “Today, the way we behaved in this typical winter game, at Selhurst Park always is difficult. The composure we played with, the few, few chances we conceded, the desire to win the game because we want to win the game, we want to be close to Arsenal – that is the best for my team.”

Manchester City have now concluded their Premier League duties before the international break, next in action against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League last-16 second-leg; a contest that is finely poised at 1-1 after the first portion of 90 minutes.

The weekend then brings about a return to the Etihad Stadium for club legend Vincent Kompany, who takes his Championship-leading Burnley side to take on Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup.