Passion and desire to win was missing, says Man City’s Pep Guardiola despite win vs Tottenham

Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola was not happy despite his team’s 4-2 against Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday. The legendary coach feels the passion and desire to win were missing from his players.

The visitors took a 2-0 lead after Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal scored at the stroke of half-time. However, the home team bounced back stronger into the contest as Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, and Riyadh Mahrez scored in the second half. Mahrez scored a brace for his team as he found the back of the net 63rd and 90th minute.

Guardiola added the home fans were silent in the first half, which was disappointing for him.

“Passion, fire, and desire to want to win (was missing) from the first minute. Our fans were silent for 45 minutes. We are far away from the team that we were. There are many things that we are far away from,” said Guardiola.

The former Barca coach urged the club’s fans to put their weight behind the players in the matches.

“It is not one single player, everyone is there. It is everyone, as soon as we realize it, we will come back. Our fans must push us, must demand more, and have to shout. Today we were lucky but nine times out of 10, you don’t come back,” Guardiola added.

Guardiola added he wants to beat the table-toppers Arsenal but admitted that the Gunners will have the advantage against them if they continue to play like this.

“I want a reaction for all the club, all the organization, the players, the staff. We are a happy flowers team. I don’t want to be happy flowers, I want to beat Arsenal but if we play in that way Arsenal will destroy, they will beat us,” said Guardiola.

The Sky Blues will next face the Wolves on Sunday.