City are fourth in the league following defeat at Chelsea on Wednesday, all but ending hopes of a league title in the Catalan’s debut campaign in England.

“In future I will be better – definitely,” said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach.

“This season has been a massive lesson for me.”

He added: “We have a lot of beautiful things to fight for and to qualify for the Champions League will be a huge success. But we have to be honest with ourselves. We were not good enough to compete for the Premier League [title].”

Defeat at Stamford Bridge left City just four points ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United, both of whom have a game in hand.

With the FA Cup being City’s only realistic chance of winning a trophy this term, it is likely to be the worst season of Guardiola’s managerial career.

The 46-year-old has never gone a single season without winning a trophy – he has won the title in six out of seven attempts and his sides have always reached the last four of the Champions League.

‘We are so polite’

Guardiola has also responded to questions about a row between City and Chelsea coaching staff at Stamford Bridge following the defeat on Wednesday night.

There have been conflicting claims about the precise nature of the row, but stewards were needed to calm the situation down after Chelsea’s 2-1 win.

The incident centred around a disagreement between Chelsea fitness coach Paolo Bertelli and Manchester City masseur Mark Sertori, both of whom speak Italian, as the Premier League leaders celebrated their victory.

Guardiola said: “We are so polite in our defeats and we are so polite when we win. When we win, normally we celebrate a little bit, then we go to the locker room.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was not involved and has played the incident down.

He said: “Respect is the most important thing in football.”

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Source: BBC

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Guardiola arrived last summer following success with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but his current side trail Premier League leaders Chelsea by 10 points with 11 games remaining.

City are, however, still in the FA Cup and Champions League.

“If I have no silverware, I will not be here for a long time,” said the 46-year-old Catalan manager.

“No silverware – it will not be a good season,” Guardiola added. “I knew that in August. Being a manager depends on results.

“I know what my standard was in the past and I know what is on my shoulders. I have to handle that.

“But I know we will be judged on the titles we have won. My period in Munich was judged like a disaster because we were not able to win the Champions League. I won three leagues in a row, we won two cups from three, we arrived every time in the semi-finals and finals but it was a disaster.

“I have to handle that but what I can say is try to play better, better, better than the previous month. That’s what I want to see for the next year – be better.”

City travel to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday before heading to Monaco for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday. They then face top-four rivals Liverpool the following weekend.

Guardiola said: “It is an important week. We have done a good job in the past – especially in two competitions and we are doing quite well in the Premier League as well – but this week is so, so important. These three games will decide what’s going to happen in the next two months, definitely.”

Guardiola said captain Vincent Kompany is now back in training and the defender could be in contention to return at Middlesbrough.

Analysis – not everything has gone well
Pep Guardiola knows his time as Manchester City manager will be judged on the trophies he wins.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has brought his distinctive possession-based style to the Etihad Stadium.

At times, beating Barcelona 3-1 [in the Champions League] and West Ham 5-0, [in the FA Cup] it has been mesmeric. But Claudio Bravo’s troubles as a ball-playing goalkeeper is proof that not everything has gone well.

Yet Guardiola feels assessments on style are irrelevant compared to results.

With Chelsea 10 points clear in the Premier League and the EFL Cup already won by Manchester United, it puts extra emphasis on City’s FA Cup sixth-round tie at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

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Source: BBC

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City are now 10 points behind leaders Chelsea after defeat on Merseyside – the heaviest league loss in Guardiola’s managerial career.

Asked if the gap was too great, he said: “Yes. Ten is a lot of points.”

Guardiola, 45, has told his players to unite “in the bad moments” and “forget the table” until the end of the season.

He added: “At the end of the season, we our going to evaluate our level and how our performance was, how the coach was, how the players were. After that we are going to decide.”

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss insisted he was “so happy in Manchester” despite his side sitting fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

Guardiola watched City dominate possession on Merseyside but concede four from the six shots they faced.

Only five teams have a lower haul than their four clean sheets in the league – BBC Radio 5 live pundit Robbie Savage said City “cannot defend” and questioned if Guardiola would now change his style.

City are the only team in the Premier League to have over 50% of possession in every game this season but they have now conceded from the first shot they have faced in four of their last seven games.

Guardiola added: “I said to the players be positive because you made some fantastic things during the season and for many reasons we didn’t get what I think we deserved.

“In the bad moments we have to be close. It’s awful for my players. We created chances but don’t score and when they have a chance, they punish us.”

Everton scored with their first two shots through Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas, with Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman completing the rout.

Stones in the spotlight – again

Lookman’s goal came after a John Stones clearance was charged down, throwing the young defender again under the spotlight.

It was Stones’ first visit to Goodison Park since leaving Everton for City in a £47.5m deal last summer.

The 22-year-old has been criticised for making too many mistakes, and former Manchester United and Everton defender Phil Neville believes he is being unfairly singled out.

However, fellow pundit Alan Shearer told Match of the Day 2: “John Stones did have a nightmare. He is 22 now, he has played nearly 100 Premier League games and everyone keeps saying to me and to the rest of the football world, that he is going to be a top player.

“If I’m a centre forward, a young guy and I keep on missing chances, I don’t expect to be in the team. Eventually you are going to get left out. I keep seeing Stones making mistakes too often, too many times.”

City’s next outing is a home encounter with second-placed Tottenham, who are on a run of six league wins.

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Source: BBC

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Aguero scored twice – his first goals in six games – as City beat West Brom 4-0 to move top of the Premier League.

The Argentina international’s future at the club has been questioned after he was overlooked for the Champions League game in Barcelona earlier this month.

But Guardiola said: “I’d like to convince Sergio how important he is.”

Aguero’s seven goals in the league make him joint top scorer with Chelsea’s Spain forward Diego Costa.

He also played a part in the first of Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan’s two goals against the Baggies on Saturday.

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola added: “We need him a lot. When he shows that brilliance and belief Sergio is exceptional. We want to try and help him to be better and better. He is fantastic.

“He is part of the history of this club but I would like to help him still. That is my target – help him to feel how important he is for us in in every game.

“He is one of the best. And above all that he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I love working with the nice guys, and Sergio is one of them.”

BBC Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy said Augero, 28, looked more dynamic without the ball this season.

“He was harrying people and that is not something I associate with the Sergio Aguero of last season,” said the former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder.

“He ran 10.2km against West Brom. That is a lot different from last season when he was clocking less than eight on average.”

Former England striker Alan Shearer added: “He is the one genuine world-class player we have in the Premier League.”

Guardiola admitted he had doubts about his City side but not his principles after victory over West Brom ended a six-match winless run, his worst such sequence in management.

“Six games without winning is a long time,” Guardiola told BBC Sport.

“When we lose always you doubt. Also in the second half when we didn’t play like the first half I had doubts about what we had to do to improve.

“The principles? No doubts. But to know the players, how they play with other ones, how you play in different systems, sometimes you make a doubt, yes.

“Winning again is so important for us. When you lose, the problem is you lose a bit of confidence each time for the next game and it has happened in this period.”

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Source: BBC

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