Pep Guardiola has laid down the challenge for his players as City enters familiar territory | OneFootball

Manchester City picked up a comfortable 3-nil win over West Ham at the Etihad Stadium yesterday to maintain the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal. A brace from Erling Haaland and a first-half goal from Tijjani Reijnders were enough to see City pick up a valuable three points. Pep Guardiola’s side barely had to get out of second gear yesterday against a struggling West Ham side. They made it seven consecutive wins in all competitions with their victory yesterday. But while City are racking up the wins, Pep Guardiola threw down a challenge to his players after their win yesterday. He believes that his team needs to go up a level to contend for silverware this season.

Pep Guardiola wants to see more from his team.

Speaking after Manchester City’s 3-nil win over West Ham, Pep Guardiola said he wants to see more from his team. He specifically spoke on their play in possession as an area that needs to improve. The Manchester City manager explained: “We are happy to win but the way we are with the ball, we have to improve otherwise it will not be enough to be title contenders in March, April and May.”

“Always I have to thank Erling for the goals but today thanks to him, Phil and Nico O’Reilly, they help us a lot to do this game.”

“Defensively we are improving and we can visualise it but with the ball, we are away from what we have to do. We are not close. The way we attack depends on how the opponents defend, we have to be in the right spots to make it more fluid and we were not.”

“We are happy, we cannot deny we are in the Champions League spots, the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and up there in the Premier League.”

A more telling quote from Pep Guardiola came when he urged his team to follow him and continue to improve. He added: “We will be there. If they follow me, we will be there, but we have to improve.”

“I know the level but it’s not enough. The spirit, the aggression, the hunger is there. All the attributes they need that is not highlights. Many things, we have to do better.”

Manchester City are in a familiar position and if they can improve they’ll be a formidable force.

Even though Manchester City have won seven consecutive matches in all competitions, Pep Guardiola’s assessment is on the money. There are obvious areas where this City team can improve. They were on display early in the second half of yesterday’s match. Manchester City struggled to play out from the back at the beginning of the second half. One misplaced pass from Bernardo Silva almost gifted West Ham a way back into the game. That is one clear area of City’s play that needs to improve. Manchester City have struggled at times this season to play out from the back, and that is a major area in which City can improve.

There are of course others. Pep Guardiola’s side is yet to establish the control of matches that they typically have and have built their play around. They were better in this regard yesterday but this portion of their play remains a work in progress. The major positive is that City are well placed to launch into the second half of this season despite having so many areas of their play which can improve. That is a major positive to take from Manchester City’s strong recent run of results.

Pep Guardiola has laid down the gauntlet to his team. He wants to see them to continue to improve so they can contend for silverware this season. Manchester City are entering a phase of the season where they have typically launched into title winning campaigns. But this is a new-look City team that needs to improve to match what their predecessors were able to do so often in the past. If this City team can follow suit anything is possible for Pep Guardiola’s side this season.