3 days ago
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the state of his squad ahead of their Premier League opener at Wolves
Pep Guardiola is hoping for more consistency from his Manchester City players after they missed the chance to build themselves up over the summer.
City put in a terrific performance against Juventus at the Club World Cup but were then dumped out of the tournament by Al Hilal in the last-16.
Rest was prioritised over the next four weeks, and City have played just one friendly in front of a crowd - Saturday's 3-0 win over Palermo - as they tune up for the new season. The Blues consciously do not want to overload their players at the beginning of campaigns, although Guardiola has again voiced concerns about if they will be ready.
City's coach was happy with the performance against their Serie B opponents and pleased that the club have been able to bring in four new additions to the squad. More departures are needed, although that imbalance in numbers is not affecting the mood around the City Football Academy.
Following their Club World Cup defeat, City now have to prove that they are good enough to win titles again starting with the Premier League, with a trip to Molineux to take on Wolves next week their first chance to make a statement.
If they can put together more consistent results than last season, the players will have done what Guardiola has called for.
"I am happy since USA and our World Cup. Our vibes there were really good," he said.
"We could not control the transition against Al Hilal but the players were really good there. We wanted to stay longer, not just to play Chelsea, but to build more of what we want to do.
"We have one more week of holidays, we didn’t want to play too many games. Just training. It’s just a friendly, no pressure on both sides. Now in the Premier League, I hope we will be more consistent than last season."
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