Manchester City show they are threatening to motor in the Premier League

Much is often made of Pep Guardiola‘s mood. Whether the fabled mojo is disappearing, what the state of his demeanour might be at any given moment.

These have been questions pondered for much of this season and it is only right, therefore, to recognise that a 17-minute dissection of what appeared a standard win over inferior opposition suggested he is in a pretty good place.

Manchester City, boasting the league’s best defence, are chipping away at those who sit beneath Liverpool. Regular goals have been hard to come by but two in particular over the last fortnight have clearly shown Guardiola that City are threatening to motor.

Manchester City continue to cut the gap to the teams at the top after their Newcastle victory

Raheem Sterling’s cutbacks for Ilkay Gundogan’s goals show City are threatening to motor

Both happened to be scored by Ilkay Gundogan. Both were scored inside the box from a Raheem Sterling cutback. Both could have been lifted straight from the commemorative Centurions DVD of the 2017-18 title.

A winger is played inside his full back, darting towards the byline. He looks sideways, observes onrushing midfielders finding half-a-yard, and the ball is in the net. That is the picture of Guardiola’s City.

The first came against West Brom, a night City eventually toiled to a draw. But the signs were there. The second against Newcastle, a night City drew huge praise from their manager. The goals look simplistic but we know by now that they are not. Sterling actually scored similar at Southampton as well, assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.

‘When we contact several players in several positions at the right moment, we make an explosion,’ Guardiola said. ‘Newcastle was maybe one of the first days that we saw it. That is why I’m happy.

‘We win games as a consequence of the way we play. Every team has his way. Our way is like this: everyone in his position doing what he has to do.

‘It’s not passing the ball for passing the ball sake. It’s passing the ball with sense. If our midfielder arrives more in the box, it is because our attacking build-up is much better. We have won games but we were not playing the right tempo. Football is about time.’

Pep Guardiola was happy with improvements his side made during their victory vs Newcastle

Guardiola spoke passionately of attacking rhythm and when City’s front six are all in tune to the pattern of play, scurrying off in different directions, anybody they face is in deep trouble.

He will impress on his players that they cannot let up at Everton on Monday before visiting Chelsea on Sunday. Coming through those with positive results ought to open up a run at Liverpool – if one is allowed – given an appealing run of fixtures next month.

‘We have to continue to do this, knowing that this year is so weird, so complicated,’ Guardiola added. ‘Look at the results! Everyone has dropped points. What we’re looking for is our game back. ‘I don’t know how many millions of passes we had against Newcastle, but that is the way we want to play, picking the right moment to attack.

Ferran Torres has been a good buy for Pep Guardiola’s side and he again found the net

‘Everyone respected their position and accepted that maybe you can help the team do what they have to do. With our positional game, that is the most important thing.

‘Raheem didn’t touch many balls but helped the others to do our game. And the moment it is time for Raheem to intervene, he is decisive.’

Two others protagonists will have a huge say on how this season pans out: Sergio Aguero and De Bruyne, both of whom are having their minutes managed for different reasons. Aguero was in contention to start on Saturday but came off the bench, while De Bruyne has started only three cup matches and did not even travel to Arsenal last week.

‘Kevin is one of the biggest stars in the world right now but runs without the ball like he is a guy in the Conference,’ Guardiola said. ‘He’s outstanding. I prefer to have him fit in the Premier League.

‘The other competitions are important but we don’t want to be too far away from the top of the league. We are going to be close to the top. Then we fight to be there in the last eight or 10 games.’