New-look Manchester City side are still ‘doing things not well’ says Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City still have plenty of room for improvement despite their recent 6-0 destruction of Al Ain and overall showings at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Manchester City have booked their place in the next round of this summer’s tournament in the United States after two wins from two heading into the final group stage encounter against Juventus this week.

A 2-0 win over Wydad AC on matchday one in Philadelphia was followed up by an even more convincing 6-0 victory over Al Ain in Atlanta, leaving City requiring a win over the aforementioned Italian giants to secure top spot in the group.

It has also been an encouraging start for Manchester City’s summer signings, after Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri impressed in their respective debuts for the club, while Rayan Cherki bagged his first goal from distance, combining with Erling Haaland last time out.

But speaking to reporters prior to Manchester City’s group stage finale against Juventus on Thursday night, manager Pep Guardiola spoke candidly about his side’s performance levels off the back of the 6-0 win over Al Ain on Sunday night.

“Even in the 6-0 result, still there are things we are not doing well. But it’s completely normal right now. Hopefully every game we can do better and better to improve,” Guardiola said.

“I am seeing good things. The season will be tough, we know it, but in the other terms I’m so positive that we will do many, many good things,” he added.

The Manchester City manager also took note of the soaring temperatures at this summer’s tournament in the United States, while praising the conditions on show at the air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The heat is obvious. We cannot change it, right? So it’s better to play like in the last stadium we played, it was fantastic! But I think all the teams have to handle it, so it is what it is. For the next World Cup, people will know it already, but yeah, we have to be ready to suffer,” he said.

On the challenge of various teams at the tournament, Guardiola also pointed out, “The South American teams are maybe more in-form because they are in the middle of competition. The rest of the teams, European teams, are at the end or beginning of the season like you can see.”

Manchester City are due to face either Real Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg, or Al Hilal in the last-16 of this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, depending on the outcome of their own contest with Juventus, and also the final order of Group H.