Guardiola Refuses to Label Man City’s Season a Success Despite FA Cup Final Berth
City's Season Not Good Enough, Says Pep
- Pep Guardiola insists that reaching the final is not enough to deem their season a success.
- However, this competition represents City's only realistic opportunity for major silverware this season
- Rico Lewis opened the scoring for City in the second minute
Despite guiding Manchester City to their third consecutive FA Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, manager Pep Guardiola insists that reaching the final is not enough to deem their season a success.
Goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol secured City’s place in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace on Saturday, May 17, offering them the chance to lift the trophy for the eighth time. However, this competition represents City’s only realistic opportunity for major silverware this season, aside from the Community Shield, as their reign of four successive Premier League titles came to an end with Liverpool’s coronation as champions on Sunday.
Currently sitting fourth in the league table, a significant 21 points behind Arne Slot’s Liverpool, Guardiola cautioned that an FA Cup triumph and securing Champions League qualification through a top-five finish would not be sufficient to mask what he considers a disappointing campaign by their own high standards.
“No,” Guardiola stated bluntly when asked if FA Cup success would make the season a good one. “The damage would be minimum. It’s not going to confuse [that] the season has been good. The club has to take the decision, the right ones, so next season will be better. We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool. I said many times the season hasn’t been good because we define if the season is good or not with the Premier League. This season it could not happen, at the same time we tried to avoid the damage. We have to be calm now and recover.”
Rico Lewis opened the scoring for City in the second minute, with the young England international delivering an impressive performance in a midfield role, a departure from his usual full-back position. The 20-year-old believes the team is now heading in the right direction after a period of inconsistent form that proved costly in both domestic and European competitions.
