‘It’s exhausting’ – Man City boss Pep Guardiola appears to blame travel to London as reason his side lost to Tottenham
PEP GUARDIOLA moaned about Manchester City’s “exhausting” London trip as they blew a huge chance in the title race.
The City boss compared his team’s journey to the capital as like travelling to the continent.
But he knows there is a long way to go and cannot wait to get back to the Etihad to face Aston Villa on Sunday.
Guardiola, whose team had not played in nine days before making their 200-mile trip to Tottenham to suffer a 1-0 defeat, said: “Coming to London is like going to northern Europe.
“It is four and a half hours to get to a hotel. It’s so exhausting to come to London, I’m sorry.
“We need to come back to Manchester and prepare for the game against Aston Villa.”
City could have moved to within two points of league leaders Arsenal with victory.
But their awful run at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — where they still are yet to score and have lost all five games — continued.
Guardiola said: “There was an opportunity. Now we are sad, tomorrow we will reflect and watch the game. It will be a long, long season for everyone.”
Guardiola once branded Tottenham “the Harry Kane team” back in 2017.
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And England’s captain was again their nemesis with the winner here to break the club’s all-time scoring record.
But Guardiola added: “I’m not going to say the Harry team otherwise (ex-Spurs boss Mauricio) Pochettino will be grumpy and upset with me and I don’t want it!
“Sooner or later (City’s record at Spurs’ ground) is going to change but it is strange we haven’t scored one goal. We have missed penalties.”
Right-back Kyle Walker, who joined City from Spurs for £50million in 2017, added: “As much as I want it to be about Harry, it’s not about Harry.
“It’s about Manchester City and what we need to do as a team moving forward. It is a missed opportunity.”