Pep Guardiola admitted he would take greater satisfaction this season from seeing Manchester City improve than in winning another Premier League title.
Six titles in seven years and a record-breaking four in succession have changed the 53-year-old Spaniard’s perspective.
His contract at the Etihad expires next year and speculation on his future will continue to mount until he decides whether or not to extend it.
But with City set to launch their new season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Guardiola insisted he nor his players have lost any of their desire.
He said: “So when you have conquered the Premier League for the last (four) years, everyone wants to beat us.
“In every stadium, in the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, the Premier League especially. The Champions League of course is a little bit different.
“So we look at ourselves and say ‘what can we do better? What can we do better as a team’? Always you can improve. Always.
“You have to have the desire to be individually better. I want to be a better manager, the players want to be better individually.
“If we increase everyone a little bit our weaknesses, we increase 11 players. Our strength will be 11 times better.
“This is the target we have to be focused on. If just lifting the trophy is the only satisfaction, it cannot be because we’ve won it already.”
City were pushed all the way by Arsenal last season, needing victory over West Ham on the final day and Guardiola admitted it was more about the process than just adding to the collection.
“The satisfaction has not changed much with four, five Premier Leagues, six Premier Leagues, it’s not changed much,” he said. “It’s (about) how individually we can be better.
“As a football player to help the team be better. That will help us to stay there again and again.
The @PremierLeague returns... ⏳ pic.twitter.com/ufHXCcoVjR
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 16, 2024
“And of course when we arrive in the last month (of the season), close to winning another Premier League, that will be the motivation.
“But now, the motivation to win another Premier League is not there. For me it’s not there.
“It will be in the last month, but now it’s ‘can we beat Chelsea’? Last season we could not beat them.”
Guardiola conceded he and his players “were a little bit flat” during their pre-season tour to the States – they lost to Celtic, AC Milan and Barcelona (the latter on penalties).
But he said “something ignited” in time for last week’s Community Shield penalty shoot-out win against Manchester United.
“If you don’t have the enthusiasm or the passion or desire, don’t be here. That is the key to everything,” he added.
“If we believe we have done it and we can relax or whatever, we are not going to win. We will not even be in the top four.
“If you drop a little bit and you will be (far) away. This is the reality I felt in the first season I arrived here and after that we proved we could do it. Try to do it again. It’s simple.”
