Pep Guardiola Admits The Treble Winner's Status Affects The Performance Of Manchester City Players

JAKARTA - This season Manchester City lost in the Carabao Cup and two consecutive defeats in the Premier League, which were rare before the international break. Even though they again won hard in their match against Brighton 2-1, Guardiola acknowledged there was a decline in natural intensity after an extraordinary season ago.

"Trible affects everyone, including me. Now we have to get closer, month after month, to reach the final result at the end of the season with an opponent who keeps trying it again. I've said many times, no one has ever won four Premier Leagues in a row. That shows how difficult it is, but now the important thing is to be there, especially in the Champions League, to qualify for the next round of this period, and after that we can focus only on the Premier League. That is our target," said Pep Guardiola, Man's manager. City, quoted by Fotmob.com.

City's success also led to increased expectations, especially on Erling Haaland, who scored 52 outstanding goals in his first season in City. "Expectations are very high, but he is overcoming it very well. He knows he can score more goals in the nine Premier League games we've played," added Pep.

Guardiola gave goalkeeper Ederson a break last weekend after a fight with Brazil during the international break. Stefan Ortega was chosen to replace him.

"It's just a trip from Brazil, which took a long time. Of course, this has happened many times, but he played two games there and he was very tired. Usually I like playing Ortega in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, but we've been knocked out of the Carabao Cup, and sometimes it's good for Eddy to rest and refresh his mind," said Pep.

Ortega was happy to have the opportunity and hoped there would be more opportunities in the future. "I was very enthusiastic when Pep said I would play. I've always been waiting for the opportunity to get more playing time. Eddy played very well this season, he started very well, but I kept pushing him every day in training sessions. I think I deserve to play. I'm ambitious, so of course I don't enjoy sitting on the bench, but we are a team. Sometimes it's difficult, but it's my job - to be there when the team needs me and keep pushing Eddy every day," said Ortega.