Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City will be a far more formidable force next season after their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal left the Spaniard empty-handed for the first season in his glittering career. Having dominated in the Spanish and German leagues with Barcelona and then Bayern Munich, while also winning two Champions League titles, Guardiola has found life much harder in the cutthroat world of the Premier League. The Spaniard admits this season has been a learning process and, with his ego clearly bruised, Guardiola promised City would be much improved next term once he has time to make changes to an underachieving squad. We will be strong, especially in the games away against the Premier League teams," he said. After leading City to 10 successive wins at the start of the season, City have gradually fallen back into the bad habits that prompted the club's Abu Dhabi-based owners to axe Manuel Pellegrini and bring in Guardiola.

Source: Standard Digital April 23, 2017 23:48 UTC