Shortly after celebrating a sixth Premier League title with Manchester City, Pep Guardiola set his sights forwards to next season and is expecting another big challenge from the team who pushed them to the final day, Arsenal.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
“For Arsenal to push us to another level - before it was Liverpool and the last two seasons it's been Arsenal,” he said after City’s 3-1 win over West Ham United enabled them to lift the Premier League Trophy for a record fourth time in a row. “This one has been incredible.
“We get the message, we know they will be there for many years. Young manager with big talent - they sent us a message that you have to be careful for the next few years.
“Before it was Liverpool who pushed us to our limits. Now it's been [Arsenal] in these last two seasons, especially this one. It's been an incredible season.
“Today is the day to celebrate it. If people [told] me, 'In the next seven years you are going to win six Premier Leagues,' I will say, 'You are insane, it's not going to happen.' It happened.”
As to whether he will be around to meet that challenge from Arsenal, Guardiola said he would be at the club next season but didn’t commit beyond that.
“Right now my feeling is I want to stay next season,” he said. “We talked with the club, we have time to talk next season because I have to see the players as well, [to see] if they follow me, they follow us, for many reasons. I will stay and during the season we will talk when calm.”
"We want much more and we're going to get it"
Guardiola’s former assistant at City, Mikel Arteta, has been the man to drive them to the brink of a first title in 20 years and speaking after the 2-1 win over Everton, the Spaniard delivered a message of thanks and inspiration to the team’s fans.
“All this is happening because you started believing, you started to be patient, you started to understand what we were trying to do,” the Arsenal manager told the fans.
“All the credit has to go to the players and the staff, who are unbelievable. I think now it’s time to have a break, think, reflect, keep pushing, keep inspiring this team.
“Don’t be satisfied because we want much more than that and we’re going to get it.”
💬 "I think the supporters have taken this group of players and transformed them into a different level, because they feel confident, they feel respected, they feel loved."
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 19, 2024
Mikel lauds the Arsenal faithful after their amazing support this season 👇
Having seen his team fall short to City two seasons in a row, Arteta added that he wants his players to be more aggressive in pursuit of an elusive title.
“Now we need to show our teeth - you really want to win it, now we have to make another step forward, be very aggressive, very determined and find ways to be better than our opponents,” he told the club’s website.