Guardiola: "This could be our greatest achievement" | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola believes City winning 20 games in succession could be the greatest achievement under his tenure – given the circumstances that surround it.

City had to grind out a 2-1 win over West Ham, with the visitors pushing the Premier League leaders until almost the last kick of the game.

But the winning run goes on and records continue to fall as City march on relentlessly.

“It is so difficult,” said Pep. “To have 20 wins in this period, I think this could be the greatest achievement we have done.

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“It doesn’t mean we have won the title of course, but in winter time in England, every three days a game, COVID-19 situation, injuries... winning, winning, winning shows strength, mentally.

“When you have a run of many, many victories, you have games like this. I remember against Brighton we suffered a lot for 20 minutes, Fulham as well.

“Every person who saw the game today knows it was really tough - the opponent is incredibly difficult.

“So a big compliment to West Ham - after 26 games they are in the Champions League positions and that is because of a lot of work.”

The boss admitted the schedule is causing fatigue, no matter how carefully he rotates his squad.

He added that there will be more closely-fought games in the weeks ahead, with tired legs and tired minds inevitably leading to difficult moments.

“Teams create problems for us. Mentally it’s tough because we play many games every three days,” said Pep.

“People start to be tired. We play Tuesday and then we will have two days off before United to have a rest from each other.

“We must rest mentally and physically. If not, you cannot sustain it, but the big teams have to do it. From tomorrow, we look to Wolves and in past years we suffered against them.

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“Today we didn't paint something nice, but there are many games like this during the season.

“But we were stable. We won without being brilliant or good. Tomorrow we reflect on how we can do better and for the next game, we try to solve it.

“Normally you drop points - draws, defeats - that is normality in football. Three seasons ago, 100 points we were unstoppable, then the next season, then last season it was Liverpool and this season we didn't start good.

“Now we prepare Wolves - we don't have time to rest.

“The important thing is we have been consistent in the last four seasons. Last season too. We finished second with decent points, in another season we would have been champions, but we faced an amazing opponent, so hats off to them.

“But we did not drop much. We won Carabao, semi-finals for FA Cup and quarter finals of Champions League.

“Every season is a new chapter - nothing counts in terms of what we have done in the past. It’s a good lesson. I assure you right now, the game we will play on Tuesday will be similar to the game today.

“Tight result, we will suffer a lot, we need to be mentally strong and not give up for 95 minutes. That will help us win. If we don't, we will draw or lose.”