MY ACCOUNT
Pep Guardiola reaffirmed that Manchester City’s glorious moments will always belong to them, asking if it was the club’s fault Steven Gerrard slipped in the 2013-14 season.
City have been accused of over 100 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules between the seasons of 2009-10 and 2017-18.
Speculation has been rife as to the level of punishment the champions might receive should they be found guilty, including points deductions, relegation or the stripping of the titles they won during that time period, including two under Guardiola.
Yet Guardiola has insisted the moments cannot be taken away from City or their fans regardless of the punishment, if indeed there is one, with the manager sarcastically asking the press if it was his club’s fault that Liverpool great Gerrard slipped at a vital moment in the 2013-14 title race.
Gerrard fell to the Anfield turf during a clash with Chelsea in April of that season, with Demba Ba going on to score as the Blues triumphed and handed City the chance to go and win their second Premier League title.
“Those moments belong to us. They absolutely belong to us, regardless of the sentence, they belong to us,” Guardiola said.
“The goal from Sergio Agüero [in 2012]. I don’t know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping at Anfield. Was that our fault?
“I have respect for Steven Gerrard – but that moment belongs to us.
“The moments that we lived these years together, the Premier League will decide, but I know what we won and the way we won it.
“I know the effort we put in. If something happened in 2009 or 2010 it is not going to change one second.”
Guardiola has full faith in the club’s hierarchy.
“What I can say is I am proud of my owners, of my chairman, and the relationship we have had, this time together,” he said.
“I have relied on them [and what they told me] a lot in the past, now you can’t imagine.”
Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola also remains fully committed to City’s cause.
“If they want me here I will be here,” he continued. “The results are not good, they will put me out because it is a business where you have to win.
“But if they want me I will not let them down and my players, too. I want to convince them that what we have done, we have done and they won’t remove it.
“We have to defend our position and the way to do it is on the pitch, that’s the only way, and the way we have done it all the time.”
City would move within three points of league leaders Arsenal, who drew with Brentford on Saturday, should they beat Aston Villa on Sunday.
The corresponding fixture last season saw City come from behind to beat Villa – then managed by Gerrard – 3-2 on the final day of the season, clinching the fourth Premier League title of Guardiola’s tenure in the process, ahead of Liverpool.
