Pep Guardiola has said he believes that the “focus” has returned to his Manchester City squad after some inconsistent performances following the World Cup.
Whilst it’s worth keeping in mind that City are still flying high in the Prem, sitting in second behind league leaders Arsenal — who they could go level with should they beat them at the Emirates tonight — the Blues haven’t been quite as dominant a force of late as they have been in the past few seasons.
Speaking in the embargoed press conference ahead of their important title clash on Tuesday, Guardiola says that while he recognises there may have been the odd blip with the likes of United, Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-final and most recently Spurs, they are now looking back on track.
“I would say the mentality is there”, he said. “We are second in the table, in the FA Cup, in the Champions League again. We didn’t drop much… After what we have done, I don’t have the feeling that everything was a mess. We are close and in moments we are doing really really well.”
The 52-year-old did go on to hint that maybe an element of complacency had set having already amassed nearly half a century of points in the first half of the season, but that it is also the comparison to their success over the past five seasons that has somewhat coloured this recent run of form.
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“I understand the standards are so high when you compare with the past and sometimes you don’t do as well and you have to reflect on what is not going well. You accept it. We are just in February, there are a lot of games still to play.”
He also went on to argue that “they are more focused, all of them, remarking that in the past: “when we talk, sometimes you’d see distracted faces but my feeling is that everyone is more focused”.
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The suggestion that members of the squad were ‘distracted’ was only further compounded by the departure of versatile wing-back João Cancelo, who left the club after it was reported he would often turn up late and failed to pay attention in team meetings.
While Pep conceded, “Maybe it’s my fault [the focus dropped], maybe I should be more active and present but this is my feeling”, he did argue: “what I have felt is I said to them that is enough. It is not a guarantee of success but without that it is impossible.”
Though he admitted nothing can guarantee their success in the three competitions they remain in this season, he insists that as well as the focus being restored, there is a ‘rhythm and a ‘feeling’ within the squad again.
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If this is how well they perform even when they’re ‘off it’ — second place, three points off the top and a goal difference of +34 — then Arsenal will no doubt have to be looking over their shoulder more than they already are.
As alluded to, City can go level on points with the resurgent North London side if they win tonight, but Mikel Arteta’s men still have a game in hand on the reigning champions. FFP scandal aside, the Blues will be looking to keep the pressure on.
The road to the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford has been confirmed
Daisy Jackson
The road to one of the biggest nights in rugby league has officially been mapped out, with the 2026 Betfred Super League Grand Final set to return to Manchester’s Old Trafford this October.
Following the final round of regular-season action, the four play-off ties have now been confirmed as the battle for a place at the home of Manchester United enters its final stages.
And there’s plenty for Greater Manchester sports fans to get excited about.
Wigan Warriors have secured the League Leaders’ Shield after an emphatic 50-12 victory over Catalans Dragons, with Matt Peet’s side running in nine tries to finish top of the table.
The result keeps Wigan’s hopes of an incredible treble alive, having already lifted the Betfred Challenge Cup back in May.
They’ll now have a week off while the opening play-off ties take place, as will second-placed Leeds Rhinos.
The first eliminator sees Wakefield Trinity welcome Leigh Leopards on Friday 18 September, with kick-off at 8pm.
Then, on Saturday 19 September, Warrington Wolves take on Hull KR at 5.30pm.
The winners of those games will progress to the semi-finals, while the losing sides will face the two highest-ranked teams in the competition.
The road to the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford has been confirmed. Credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
Leeds will host the highest-ranked eliminator loser on Friday 25 September at 8pm.
Then, 24 hours later, Wigan will welcome the lowest-ranked loser to the Brick Community Stadium for their semi-final, with that one kicking off at 5.30pm on Saturday 26 September.
For Wigan, it represents a huge opportunity to take another step towards an historic treble – and ultimately a return to Old Trafford.
The Grand Final itself takes place on Saturday 3 October, with the action getting underway at 6pm.
As ever, the biggest prize in Super League will be decided under the lights at Old Trafford, with the two remaining sides battling it out in front of what is expected to be another huge crowd in Manchester.
Both Manchester United and Manchester City named as teams with the least amount of local fans
Emily Sergeant
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have been identified as being teams with the least amount of local fans, according to a new survey.
We all know that supporting a local team can be seen as a mark of credibility among a certain kind of football fan, while on the flip side of that, not following a local team is often associated with being a ‘glory hunter’. But which Premier League clubs have the highest – and lowest – proportion of supporters living close to home?
Well, YouGov decided to use its profiles data to analyse the fanbases of all 20 Premier League clubs for the 2026-27 season to get the answer to this once and for all.
And it’s fair to say that it’s not looking the best for the Manchester teams.
The study found that, overall, Brighton & Hove Albion is the Premier League’s most local team – with 56% of fans based in the South East.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Aston Villa, Brentford, Ipswich, Leeds, Fulham, Hull, and Crystal Palace fans rounding out the top 10.
At the other end of the table, Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters, with only a quarter based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) actually living in London instead.
And then as for Manchester City – who are widely considered to be the most successful team of the modern era – it has ranked fourth-bottom for local fans, as a quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, with a fifth based in London (19%).
But although both United and City have found themselves towards the bottom end of the ranking, they are not the worst offenders.
That title, unfortunately, does belong to another North West team though – Liverpool.
Liverpool is the club with the lowest proportion of ‘local’ supporters, as just a fifth are based in the North West (21%) with the next highest concentration of fans can being found in London.
Danny Jones -
15th February 2023 
