Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City fans are ‘always right’ after Kevin De Bruyne criticism | OneFootball

Manchester City’s supporters are ‘always right’ according to manager Pep Guardiola, who has been quizzed on comments issued by Kevin De Bruyne last weekend.

The reigning Premier League champions managed to make it back-to-back wins in the English top-flight and across competitions for the first time since late October, after a 0-2 away victory over Leicester City was followed up by a 4-1 scoreline against West Ham United.

An own goal was followed up by an Erling Haaland brace and a late Phil Foden effort to claim all three points with relative ease, however the Hammers had their fair share of bright opportunities and managed to take one chance late on in the contest.

It was Niclas Fullkrug’s strike that created somewhat of a nervy atmosphere within the Etihad Stadium crowd, due in large part to the results that had come prior in a run that saw Manchester City win just one match in 13 across competitions.

Among those was a 3-3 home draw to Feyenoord in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, when City threw away a three-goal advantage with 15 minutes remaining to draw the tie and throw their fate in Europe’s premier club competition into doubt.

Speaking after City’s 4-1 win over West Ham at the weekend, manager Pep Guardiola was quizzed by reporters on comments issued by Kevin De Bruyne, who had criticised Etihad Stadium fans on their reaction after the visitors’ goal late on in the contest.

“City fans saw they played really good (in the past), and they want that! And you have to try to deliver it to them! The fans know that they (the players) were struggling now, but it’s OK. Life is not perfect,” Guardiola said.

“Life is not everything during the next 20 years, the next century, City is going to win the Premier League. Sometimes it happens! Accept the reality, struggling, support us, and be behind us, and try to do it, and we want to do it, but sometimes it happens.

“But it’s normal that it happens that reaction. It’s normal! Why? Because they saw something unique, that this country never saw before, I’m sorry, in terms of titles, not in football because Liverpools and Chelseas and Uniteds of course, and Arsenal and everyone has this period that was brilliant.

“But they saw that, and they see, ‘Oh that is not maybe the same’, yeah it’s not, yeah, but we will do it! We will be back again! I want to fight, I want to try to deliver to make us be proud. So at the end, of course, if they help us it will be easier, that’s for sure.

“If they help us, the distance to come back to where we were will be shorter, because they are human beings, they want to try to do it because I know they want to do it. My players, I know them perfectly, almost all of them, they want to do it, in their head they want to try and do it!”

Guardiola continued, “And always the fans are right; they come here, to be delivered something that is like, ‘I want to see something that I enjoy’. In some moments we do it, in some moments we are, ‘Oh god’, create chances and do it.”

Manchester City return to action once again at the Etihad Stadium this weekend when Salford City visit the home of the Premier League champions in the return of the FA Cup to the hosts’ agenda at the third round stage.