Man City’s Disappointment over Swansea Win a Sign of Guardiola’s Improvement

It’s perhaps a sign of how good Manchester City’s season has been that their 3-1 win over Swansea City on Saturday was tinged with disappointment.

Their free-flowing brilliance never kicked into gear during a somewhat disjointed first half, and even in the second, when they started creating clear-cut chances, they lacked some of the fluency they have shown in the majority of their other matches this term.

The win maintained their place at the top of the Premier League table and extended their winning run under Pep Guardiola to 10 straight matches, but it wasn’t the blistering, near-perfect football we’ve become used to since the Catalan took over in the summer.

City won the game comfortably thanks to Sergio Aguero’s double and Raheem Sterling’s fine second-half goal, and they missed a bagful of chances to make the scoreline even more impressive. But without the artistry that defines their play, it created a feeling that City have plenty of work to do before their Champions League encounter with Celtic in Glasgow on Wednesday.

.@ManCity have won the opening 6 games of a top division campaign for the 1st time in their history #PL #MCFC pic.twitter.com/FEEZOeAtbh

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) September 24, 2016

The heightened expectation at City is a byproduct of Guardiola’s exacting standards. His attention to detail and enthusiasm for his work means City’s performance level has risen dramatically in the space of two-and-a-half months.

Rarely has his desire for perfection been as clear as in his post-match press conference, during which he outlined the improvements he wants to see from Aguero, a player who has scored 11 goals in just six games this season.

“Congratulations, of course, for his first goal, for the personality for the penalty, a lot of goals in the games,” he said. “I’m so happy for him, but he knows that I want more. He can play better. He can make other things that are going to help us. I will try. I will try to help him to develop his abilities as a football player.”

#PL top scorers…5️⃣ – Aguero, Antonio & Costa pic.twitter.com/G1LPgFFOwS

— Premier League (@premierleague) September 25, 2016

Guardiola’s main complaint appears to be Aguero’s …

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