Pep Guardiola On A Record Threshold, Can Pass Sir Alex Ferguson

JAKARTA - Manchester City is getting closer to winning the 2023/2024 Premier League trophy.

After crushing Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 resistance, The Citizens returned to the top of the standings.

They are two points ahead of Arsenal who are also eyeing the Premier League title.

City and Arsenal will play the final week of the competition on Sunday, May 19, 2024. Manchester City will host West Ham, while the Gunners will arrive at Everton.

The result of the match will determine who will win the 2023/2024 Premier League.

If The Citizens could score three points in the last league match, they would certainly win the competition this season.

If so, Pep Guardiola could make history. He will be the first manager in the Premier League to win a consecutive four-season competition.

The win will pass the achievements of Manchester United's legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Scottish architect, at most, only managed to win three consecutive seasons with Manchester United.

Not only that, but Manchester City also set a record. If he returns to winning this season, The Citizens can win the league for the first time in a row for four seasons.

"At the start of the season, no, we didn't think of four Premier League titles. Now we have something unique in sight."

"That hasn't happened in the Premier League (British League). We have to do it this time. History is in front of us. We have to accept that we haven't. This is the time to do it," Guardiola said as reported by The Independent.

Guardiola further expressed his ambition to make this history. The final league match like the knockout phase of the party in a tournament.

"We know why we played. So this is a knockout phase, like the second leg of the quarter-finals or the semi-finals of the Champions League or the FA Cup."

"Like it or not, we won't get it back. It's simple. Winning, good. Losing, goodbye. No more complicated than that," he said.

The competition situation this season is like two seasons ago or 2021/2022. At that time, City competed closely with Liverpool until the final week of the league.

This season, The Citizens will have to compete until the last week of the competition with Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title.

Therefore, Pep Guardiola needs to transmit his fiery spirit to his subordinates with the record ambition.

"It triggered something in our heads that said, 'Friends, no team has succeeded in doing it'. It shows that the record is difficult," he said.

"Liverpool in the 80s, Manchester United in the Sir Alex Ferguson era in the 90s, Chelsea with ( Roman owners) Abramovich and Jose (Mourinho), and Arsenal with (Arsene) Wenger did not. So, if not done, difficult. That's as simple as that," said Guardiola again.

Meanwhile, for players like Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, and Jeremy Doku, if City could lift the 2023/2024 Premier League trophy, the league title would be their first.

Things are different from old players, such as Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Bernardo Silva, and Ederson who have been at Etihad for six seasons.

"Older players can win their sixth title in seven years. This is not going to happen again," Guardiola said.

If successful in winning this season, Guardiola will join Georgekerya and Bob Paisley as managers who have won six Premier League titles in one club.

There is only Ferguson's name in front of Guardiola. The Scottish manager won 11 Premier League trophies with Manchester United.

Despite being the most successful manager in the Premier League, Ferguson had a chance to pass his record by Pep Guardiola in terms of the most consecutive league champions.

Apart from that, Pep Guardiola is one of those who reject the idea that City could achieve glory with more money than anyone else.

He said that Manchester United and Chelsea had spent more money in recent seasons. If that was an important factor, they should have won all titles.

Pep Guardiola could spend most of his season diverting talks about potential achievements.

There was talk of potential treble last year, long before the Manchester City manager did. Then, his team made it happen.

Guardiola didn't spend his time thinking about this year's double trebles. He instead tends to talk about his rivals, one of which, Real Madrid, who get rid of City from the Champions League. There is also Arsenal who are still opponents of the fight for the league trophy.

Now, Guardiola is not only eyeing the Premier League trophy or the prospect of winning a consecutive domestic doubles title.

Instead, he wants to be the manager with the most wins in 15 seasons compared to what many famous clubs have achieved for more than a century.

City's Trebles in Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League last season were the second ever recorded, after Manchester United in 1999.

City's achievement, which won three points in the 2017/2018 season, was the first in the Premier League, so far it is still the only one in terms of the top points.

In addition, Manchester City is already side by side with Huddersfield (1920s) and Manchester United (2000s) who scored a hat-trick or three consecutive Premier League champions.

Manchester City is on the verge of a new record because no team has scored four times in a row lifting the Premier League trophy.