Pep Guardiola warned his Manchester City players that he would be 'taking notes' on anybody who didn't follow his instructions in a crunch Premier League game with Liverpool last season.
A new seven-part documentary produced by the club follows every step the first team made during another title-winning campaign, with cameras on the training pitches and inside the dressing rooms up and down the country as Guardiola and his squad chased more silverware. It helps to unearth untold stories behind the team's latest achievements, and the first episode shines a light on the manager's motivational skills.
With the Blues facing a fiendish run of fixtures early in the season that saw them go to Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool in the space of a week, Guardiola had already told his players in training ahead of those matches that he would accept them losing as long as they showed that they wanted the ball. And footage taken from inside the Anfield dressing room shows him reiterating this message after victory at Stamford Bridge and defeat in Paris.
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"We finish a group of games that you were honestly and you know that in all games exceptional," he said in 'Together: Champions Again!’ . "Today is a game like they demand for the way they play the maximum with the ball and without the ball.
"If you are not aggressive with the duels like you have done against Chelsea and in Paris there is no chance. You have to know it. There was one thing I didn't like in Paris. Just one. After 2-0, we forget to do what we have to do.
"I know guys. In this stadium, I know especially the guys who want the ball and who doesn't take the ball. And I will take a note, eh? Here in this stadium we have to improve. 90 minutes, 95 minutes. 95 minutes, 95 minutes. The strategies. The plan. We follow them convinced. The personality, what you have done all the time this season so far in every single day."
Weekly episodes of ‘Together: Champions Again!’ are available on City+ and Manchester City’s Recast Channel from 6pm on Wednesday for fans to enjoy.
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