Growing pains were to be expected with this Manchester City team

There has been a lingering sense of frustration that has followed Manchester City after their 2-all draw with Tottenham. A good first half performance from Pep Guardiola’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was followed by a poor second half display from City. City squandered a two-goal lead as they allowed Spurs to pick up a point in a crucial Premier League fixture. Last Sunday’s match was an encapsulation of the growing pains that a new-look City side is going through. Pep Guardiola believes that Sunday’s result and performance against Tottenham is a lesson that his team has to live to progress.

Pep Guardiola has pointed out that his Manchester City side will learn from Sunday’s result against Tottenham.

Speaking during his pre-game press conference yesterday, ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle, Pep Guardiola explained that the setback that his team suffered against Tottenham could be an important lesson for his team. Speaking on what occured at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Manchester City manager said: “It’s a reality. Second half we drop what we got in the first. Maybe it’s a young team, the youngest in 10 years and maybe we have to live it. Maybe we stopped trying to do what we did in the first halves and we need to grow with that definitely.”

Pep Guardiola added that his team has an opportunity to build confidence tonight against Newcastle. He admitted that tonight’s match is in a different competition to the Premier League, but if City can progress to the Carabao Cup final, it will build confidence among his new-look team. He explained: “So when you play Carabao Cup it’s a different competition and Champions League is another one and Premier League and the other ones. Of course, results helps but confidence is every action and every five minutes and building and breathe in the bad actions and bad moments immediately and go to the next one.”

Growing pains were to be expected with this City side.

It would have been a minor miracle if this new-look Manchester City side picked up where their predecessors left off. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side from 2017-18 to 2023/24 set the bar so high in terms of success that it may never be reached again, by this City team or any other side for that matter. To expect this City side, no matter how talented it is, to reach those standards immediately, is a tall order. Growing pains were to be expected as this City side grows together, and that is what we are witnessing.

Pep Guardiola’s new-look team has to learn a host of lessons to grow, whether that is through victory, defeat, or disappointment. Their second half performance against Tottenham and the fact that they surrendered a winning position falls into the disappointing category. If this City side learns the lessons from last Sunday’s match quickly, it will help them grow and mature. How long that process takes is anyone’s guess. This Manchester City side is learning on the job, so it isn’t a linear process regarding how long it will take them to grow and learn from matches like the one against Tottenham.

Pep Guardiola believes that his team may have to live what they went through against Spurs to grow. That is a realistic assessment of watching this Manchester City side so far this season. There may be more growing pains and signs of immaturity to come this season. The journey City is on isn’t a straightforward one, so growing pains were to be expected across this season.