Pep Guardiola says Manchester City must protect 'incredible' team spirit 'like a mother takes care of their son'
Published 23/09/2025 at 17:47 GMT+1
Pep Guardiola was happy with Manchester City's "incredible" team spirit in their draw with Arsenal on Sunday, after The Gunners equalised late to deny City all three points. In the aftermath, Guardiola said that the attitude of his team should be taken care of "like a father, a mother takes care of their son". City languish in ninth place as they look to retrieve the Premier League title.
Guardiola: Taking care of City's spirit like mother and father caring for sons
Video credit: SNTV
Pep Guardiola feels the spirit in his team should be protected "like a father, a mother takes care of their son".
His Manchester City side were denied what would have been a brilliant three points at Arsenal on Sunday, when Gabriel Martinelli's excellent finish in the 92nd minute cancelled out Erling Haaland's first-half strike in a 1-1 draw.
A draw was an improvement over their last visit to Emirates Stadium, which ended in a 5-1 defeat during a campaign which saw the Spaniard without major silverware for the first time in eight years.
During their tussle with The Gunners at the weekend, Guardiola adopted a defensive style of play, which saw them with just 32.8% possession - the lowest ever possession average by a Guardiola team in a top-flight match.
Nevertheless, Guardiola was impressed with how his side fought, the positives over last season's result and credited the "incredible" spirit of his side, who have lost twice in their opening five matches.
"I'm really proud of this fight," he said. "We recovered many, many things that we missed last season.
"We have an incredible spirit. Of course, we cannot sustain for all the season to play in the way we played, and we don't want it. But I give incredible power and credit to the opponents, Arsenal.
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"Especially since [Manchester] United [a 3-0 win for City], we start to recover many things that define our teams for many, many years. We can do better, yeah, we do it. We could do a few things, many decisions, yeah, we do it.
"And we have to play a little bit more with the opponent, yes, we will do it. But first comes the spirit that we have shown this week. And we have to take care, this kind of thing, like a father, a mother takes care of their son."
City are currently ninth in the Premier League and take on Huddersfield Town in the League Cup on Wednesday, before hosting Burnley on Saturday.
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