Pep Guardiola Targets Another Treble for Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has revealed he is going for another treble with Manchester City after last season’s achievement. The City boss was left disappointed after the team crashed out of the Carabao Cup in the third round away at Newcastle United.

Despite giving a good performance in the first half the team was overwhelmed early in the second half as Newcastle came all out and scored the only goal of the encounter. Lacking the usual quality as a result of injuries that have depleted the squad, Guardiola’s attempts to freshen up the team failed to yield the desired result.

The manager was questioned after the game on how he feels about the lost opportunity to secure a quadruple this season. But he was adamant about the prospects for the season stating that his aim was never to win the quadruple in the first place.

“You think the target was the quadruple? We are more than happy with the treble,” he responded to Sky Sports after the match.

Much is expected of City this season after last term’s tremendous success. The Blues have had a strong start in the Premier League despite having been hit with injuries to several key players. Rodri’s suspension further stretched an already thin squad leaving Guardiola with no choice but to rely on some youngsters to prosecute the midweek Cup game.

The decision did not pay off as the team fell to a 1-0 loss at Saint James’ Park. That leaves City with a treble to fight for apart from the Club World Cup. But the nature of competition both domestically and on the continent shows it will not be an easy task winning another treble.

However, Guardiola has revealed that he has a goal of winning the treble again. That’s rather surprising as the City boss usually adopts a humble approach rather than going out of his way to state his team’s ambition to win the trophies on offer.

It remains to be seen whether this puts too much pressure on the team to perform or it acts as an inspiration. The players who see this as an opportunity to rise to the challenge and make history again. After signing his contract extension recently, Kyle Walker stated that one of the reasons he renewed was the opportunity to win another treble with the team.

So far the competition has strengthened both in the Premier League and on the continent. Domestically, Liverpool are looking like a real force to be reckoned with this season. Other teams like Tottenham and Newcastle United have also strengthened significantly. Mikel Arteta’s desire to topple City is an open secret.

This shapes up to a super competitive season ahead that will take an exceptional performance to navigate successfully and emerge champions again.