Pep Guardiola tells Man City to ‘play better’ despite 3-0 win over West Ham | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City pulling level with Arsenal was “not the point” and said his team “have to play better” despite beating West Ham 3-0.

City secured an equalisation 3-0 win against the Hammers thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland and a Tijjani Reijnders but Guardiola, in his typical fashion, looked like a manager on the opposite end of that scoreline in his post-match.

Speaking to the BBC, Guardiola said the team was “still away” from where he wants them to be.

“Some things have been really good, the others no,” he said. “But that’s nice because we have margin to improve.

“Defensively, we were so good and in many, many aspects. We are moving well, the aggression of the players.

“Erling show us that is really, really important, but without the ball, with the ball, we are still away.”

Guardiola went on to suggest his team was “not brave enough” to achieve some of the aspects that he wants.

“It’s my feeling that we’re not brave enough to do ‘okay we’re going to break the lines are going to do it, and that’s why.”

Guardiola was then asked for his thoughts on being near the top on Christmas at which point he said “That is not the point, we have to play better” before leaving.

Despite his complaints, Guardiola did state his happiness for his team still being in every competition.

“I’m really happy at the position in the table. It doesn’t matter what first or second today. Important is, is we are close top of the league.

“In the Champions League, we are there. Semifinals Carabao Cup. The players are tough, of course, we miss now seven players, five injuries, two in African Cup, and that, that is a little bit tough, but to handle it for many games, but we have to improve.”

Goalscorer Reijnders was a little more positive, stating his belief that City “controlled” the game for a large part of it.

“Only the beginning of the second half we didn’t start quite so well,” he said. “Big part of the game we controlled it and we could have made more chances if we were more secure in certain situations.

“It’s new, I think, for every player who comes here. The tactics are different from my other clubs; the guys help me a lot with adjusting, and I feel pretty settled here.

“It’s good. We put on a very good streak. For us, we have to keep going. It’s not finished. Keep pressure on Arsenal, and it’s a good time going into Christmas like this.”