Man City boss Pep Guardiola fires back at Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher
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Pep Guardiola has aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher after Manchester City lost ground in the Premier League title race over the weekend. The defending champions were held to a draw at home by Tottenham, with the result extending their winless run to three league matches.
Gary Neville was among the pundits to accuse City of being too complacent after the final whistle, while Richards insisted there was something ‘just not right’ at his former club. Guardiola issued a fiery response while addressing their comments in Tuesday’s press conference, which also saw the Spaniard take aim at fellow pundit Carragher.
“I know here, when we don’t win, there’s ‘complacency’ and you don’t have character,” said Guardiola. “Then when you win, it’s because we still have hunger. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think it’s about complacency.
“I know the players. How we behave is extraordinary. I have a feeling that if we maintain that level, we’ll win the Premier League again. He knows how difficult it is, otherwise Gary Neville would have won four Premier Leagues in the best period of Manchester United. But he didn’t do it, you know?
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“Jamie Carragher didn’t win one [Premier League] once. Micah Richards didn’t win four Premier Leagues in a row. Never, ever. It’s never happened. I see my team, how they fight, how they press, how they continue until the end and how upset they are after we concede. So I don’t have that feeling.
“Maybe I’m wrong and they’re seeing everything that I’m not able to see. But I don’t have that feeling. My feeling is that it’s so difficult to maintain the level of Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea. If we’re able to do it, then we will. This is the target, to maintain the level we are playing at.”
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Guardiola went on to insist that he has no time for mind games after referring to Mikel Arteta when discussing referees at the end of Sunday’s draw with Tottenham. He said in his post-match interview that he would not ‘do a Mikel Arteta comment’ in reference to the Arsenal manager’s fury after losing at Newcastle thanks to a controversial VAR decision.
Addressing the topic on Tuesday, Guardiola said: “People say ‘Ah you wanted to make a dig at Mikel’. I didn’t want to make a dig at Mikel. It was a little joke, maybe people didn’t get it. If I want to say something to Mikel I call him. We spoke to each other just one week ago.
“Mind games is to play better than the opponents. Mind games is having the ball for 15 minutes, creating chances and chances. The mind games are if you are much better than them. Managers to control the emotions of players before and after? No chance.”
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