How Manchester City lifted ‘fog’ after disappointment of last season to spark revival and push for another Premier League title

Last season, Man City stumbled in their pursuit of a fifth consecutive league title, as Liverpool swamped the competition to claim a stunning success in Arne Slot’s first season, with Guardiola’s side finishing third and 13 points off the pace.

In the two months stretching from October 2024 to December 2024, City won just one game in 13 across all competitions, while losing nine of those during an unprecedented run, as their league title and UEFA Champions League ambitions crumbled.

But after the Club World Cup last summer, which saw City beat Wydad Casablanca, Al Ain and Juventus before defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, Guardiola insisted the squad managed to revive itself ahead of the current campaign.

“Energy, energy, energy. We lost it last season,” Guardiola said. “We started to train better, compete better. We needed energy and then you have a good environment.

“When we went out to Al Hilal, it wasn’t the fact that we didn’t win but that we were so good there. It was then the holidays, so I said, ‘okay, go on holidays’.”

Guardiola was adamant that City’s camp in Florida played a huge part in the club’s upturn in fortune.

“The place we were in, Boca Raton, in front of the beach. Everyone was happy. Made a lot of dinners, a lot of talks, what we have to do next season,” he explained.

“We wanted to extend it, just to live that. I think there, after talking with (his assistants) Pep (Lijnders) and James (French), Manel (Estiarte), Hugo (Viana), Txiki (Begiristain), we turned around and said something changed. Something.

“It doesn’t mean you are going to win, but that you are able to recognise the team. Now it is eight victories in a row.

“It is not easy, but to compete in a way we do. We have to improve, absolutely, but this mindset is better.”

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Video credit: SNTV

Guardiola, who has spent nearly a decade at the City helm, also feels re-energised.

“It’s not about you, or you, or you, it was something… something was in the fog in Manchester, surrounding our training centre,” he said.

“We missed something. (The energy) is not switching on or off. Results help. The methodology.

“And Pep Lijnders, James (French), Kolo Toure. New players, I want to help them. When you’ve got the same players, it is, ‘Ah, tired.’ But new players, you think, ‘Ah, how is this guy?’, and try to analyse.

“The energy comes from there. Energy can go down, but energy can go up. Never in our lives is it the same.

“In professional or personal, you’ll never be happy all the time but never sad all the time. You have to realise why, to realise what we missed, to come back.”

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