Guardiola’s ‘winning machine’ have ‘put ourselves in history books’
Midfielder Phil Foden said “we’ve put ourselves in the history books” after Manchester City won a record fourth successive Premier League title.
Foden scored twice as Pep Guardiola’s side beat West Ham 3-1 on the final day to extend their unbeaten home run to 44 games in all competitions.
It means they end the campaign two points above Arsenal, with the Gunners beating Everton 2-1 on the final day.
“It’s so hard to put into words what we’ve done,” said Foden said after the game.
“We’ve put ourselves in the history books. No team has ever done it. You see what it means to the fans and what it means to us. Working all year for this moment, it’s such a special feeling to share it with the fans.
“Now we can say we are the first team to do it. I’m lost for words.”
Foden got City up and running, beating goalkeeper Alphonse Areola after two minutes.
He added another before the break, and Rodri scored City’s third to wrap up Foden’s sixth Premier League title with his boyhood club.
“I’ll never get bored of it,” he said. “I want this feeling every time. When you win something there is no better feeling and I just want to keep winning as much as I can.”
‘Now is our period’
Guardiola, whose contract at City is set to expire in 2025, again reiterated his commitment to the club for next season.
City were pushed all the way by Mikel Arteta’s side as the Premier League title race went down to the final day for the 10th time.
Of Guardiola’s six league triumphs with City, this was the third time they won it on the final day after pipping Liverpool to the title in 2018-19 and 2021-22.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola praised Arsenal for running his side close and pushing them to their limits.
“We get the message so I know they will be there for many years,” he said. “Young manager, big talent. They send us a message that we have to be careful for the next years.
“But today is a day to celebrate. If people told me in the next seven years we are going to win six Premier Leagues I will say you are insane, it’s not going to happen.
“It happened. Now is our period. We are part of that.”
‘A winning machine’
Guardiola said he thought it could not get any better after last season’s Treble-winning campaign, and he is not the only one in awe of his team as the records keep tumbling.
He joins the list of iconic managers to have won six English top-flight titles – Sir Alex Ferguson (13), George Ramsay and Bob Paisley (both six).
“Pep Guardiola has designed a style of football that is being copied not just around this country, but all around Europe,” former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports.
“Most of all he is a winning machine that instils that in everybody who works with him.”
Former City defender Micah Richards said a fourth successive title was “ridiculous and unbelievable”, while ex-United player Rio Ferdinand praised City’s mental strength.
“It’s hard to explain how difficult that is – to continually reboot and go again,” he added. “The daily pressure to get up and go every day is a relentless pursuit of elite performance.”
What the players said
Kyle Walker: “It has been spoken about all year what we can achieve and the history we can make. But it is about the finer details. It was down to just one game and that game was West Ham United. We get past that, then we make history but more importantly we claim the Premier League again.”
Kevin de Bruyne: “It feels just as amazing as the first one. We worked so hard for it. It has been a tough battle with Arsenal and Liverpool this year, and you know to be here again doing something historic is amazing.”
Bernardo Silva: “The margins are so small. Liverpool, in two seasons, we beat them by one point and now Arsenal by two points. We’ve been lucky enough to have these small margins to be in front of them. The achievement is unbelievable. Four in a row. We are so, so proud and so, so happy.”
Erling Haaland: “After we beat Spurs we kind of knew we were going to do it. I was confident.”
How good have City been?
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City have now gone 35 matches unbeaten in all competitions (W29 D6), the longest run ever by a Premier League team.
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Foden has scored six goals from outside the box in the Premier League this season, the most of any player, and the most by a City player in a single campaign.
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Rodri has not lost a single match he has played in the Premier League this season (W27 D7), with only five of Arsenal’s Invincibles from 2003-04 playing in more games without losing in a season.