Pep Guardiola: 'Manchester City need to lose to improve this season'

Pep Guardiola has been very successful implementing his style at Manchester City so far, and the results have been nothing short of spectacular: 10 games, 10 wins, most of them featuring amazing football, and a clear sign that Pep Ball does work in England.

It is very easy to get carried away by City's incredible start and think everything is perfect, the team will never lose again and will lift every trophy as long as Guardiola is in charge. Everyone who knows any little thing about football knows this is a lie, and it's impossible to be at your best and win every game.

And Guardiola, one of the guys who know the most about football today, thinks the Citizens actually need a setback, a bad result and a bad performance in order to improve.

"I hear many many things about the coaches just to lose one game but people have to understand we are not going to win absolutely everything, we are going to lose a game.

"And losing is necessary to improve, to get better. For the players it’s the same, the players today with the social media, what we try with Raz (Raheem Sterling) and with the other ones is to [make them] feel that we love them.

"I would like to be in May with one game left to finish the season, but we are in September. In September you play six games, six games is 18 points, so we have a lot a lot of games to play. Tough, tough games."

While City have looked very good so far under Guardiola, he's only been in charge for under three months, and the Catalan says there are plenty of things to improve on until the team is playing at a level he thinks it's good enough to compete for titles:

"No, we are far, we are far. It would be boring; if we are close I can go back home. We are here to get better. When you think it’s done why do you have to keep going?

"It never ends in football - always you can play better. Individual performance, collective performance, the reason why we play better… the opponents always create different things every game.

"For example, when I said Bournemouth is the best team it’s not to be disrespectful to the other ones because the other ones, for example in Old Trafford, they were more complicated, much more complicated, to win the ball but Bournemouth create the build-up and we have to create our efforts to win the ball. It was tough.

"And now the game, for example against Stoke City, it was direct balls so every game is completely different to understand that during the game. That’s why it’s nice to be here with the players to understand that as quickly as possible."

Source: M.E.N.