“Not good” – Pep Guardiola gives brutally honest assessment of Manchester City’s season despite FA Cup chances | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has admitted Manchester City’s season will still be “not good” even if the Premier League champions manage to go all the way in the FA Cup.

The Blues marched into the quarter-final stage after coming from behind to pick up a 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle courtesy of a brace from academy star Nico O’Reilly and a late goal from Kevin De Bruyne at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

Fourth-placed City sit 20 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table and having been dumped out of the Champions League by a highly competent Real Madrid attack over two-legs, and the FA Cup remains their only shot at silverware this campaign.

Pep Guardiola signed a new two-year deal in November keeping him at City until 2027 and in the backdrop of an underwhelming campaign that has seen his side challenge neither domestically or in Europe, he knows even an FA Cup triumph will not paper over the cracks.

The Catalan coach said over the weekend, “We didn’t qualify for the first time from the group stage of the UEFA Champions League since we are here, and in the Premier League with 13, 14, 15 games left we have no chance of winning [the title] – it’s never happened, that!

“The season has not been good! But… we can do it good for the future. Of course it would be nice to arrive at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals to try to reach the final, but we have a lot of respect for the teams we could have ahead of us.”

After a difficult season riddled by injuries to key players, drop offs in form among several seasoned first-team players, and a quartet of January signings, Pep Guardiola and incoming sporting director Hugo Viana have a string of difficult decisions to make in the summer.

Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic, John Stones, Matheus Nunes, Jack Grealish and Ederson are among those whose future has been thrown into doubt, with the combined injury records of Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji also worthy of stirring up a conversation.

Asked whether winning a solitary FA Cup trophy this season would be deemed a successful season for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola continued, “It’s better to win the Treble or Quadruple – come on!”

“This season, especially in two competitions, we’ve not been good. And that’s the reality. But now we have 11 finals in the Premier League to play next season in the Champions League and the FA Cup – we’ll see the draw – we’re one game away from going to Wembley again.”

Manchester City next face a tough trip to fellow top-four hopefuls Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and Pep Guardiola will know there is little room to slip up between now and the end of the league campaign for his side.