Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has claimed that he struggled in his first season at the club, because he was forced to play with so many of his predecessor’s squad.
Guardiola finished the campaign trophyless – the first it is happening in his managerial career.
City exited the Champions League at the last 16 stage and finished third in the Premier League. They also failed to win the EFL Cup or FA Cup.
Ahead of his side’s return to pre-season training next week, Guardiola has spoken out on what went wrong last term.
“Last season I played with eight or nine players in the Premier League who were bought by Manuel Pellegrini.
“They’re good players, but you have to rejuvenate the team. It was a team that was very successful, but it had outgrown itself.
“It was one of the oldest teams in the Premier League.
“Now Txiki [Begiristain, City’s sporting director] is trying to make the necessary changes to strengthen the team.
“So we rejuvenated it with Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane, and we’ll continue to do so.
“I always wondered what would have happened if all year we’d had Vincent Kompany, Jesus and Gundogan fit.
“We wouldn’t have won the league, but we’d have fought much better for it. Jesus came in January and had a great impact, but was injured for three months.
“With Kompany, we played seven games and won them all, so it’s very important to have him in defence,” he said.
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