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Pep Guardiola is confident Manchester City will retain the Premier League title if they maintain their current level of performance. The treble winners have been held to draws in their last three games at the hands of Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.<\/p>\n
Yet in a strong message to rivals and any doubters, Guardiola has insisted his players are not lacking any hunger as they chase a fourth successive league crown.<\/p>\n
Guardiola name-checked a number of prominent football pundits, including former Manchester United defender Gary Neville and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, as he insisted there was no complacency within his squad.<\/p>\n
The City manager said: \u201cI have a feeling that if we maintain that level, we\u2019ll win the Premier League. We will win it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we (could) maintain the level of Liverpool and Tottenham, I\u2019ll sign for it right now. We didn\u2019t win 5-0 \u2013 we drew \u2013 but I\u2019d sign right now (for) my team (to) behave the way we\u2019ve played the last two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if we can sustain that all season and that is the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have anything to say about the pundits. Maybe I\u2019m wrong but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s about complacency. I know the players, I know how they run. How we behave is extraordinary.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows how difficult it is otherwise Gary Neville would\u2019ve won four Premier Leagues in the best period of Manchester United. But he didn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see my team, how they fight, how they press, how they continue until the end and how upset they are after we concede.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe, maybe I\u2019m wrong and they are seeing everything that I\u2019m not able to see, but I don\u2019t have that feeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cJamie Carragher didn\u2019t win one (league title). Micah Richards didn\u2019t win four Premier Leagues in a row. Never, ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guardiola has also defended the conduct of his team after the stormy end to Sunday\u2019s 3-3 draw with Spurs.<\/p>\n
A number of players surrounded referee Simon Hooper in protest when Erling Haaland was denied the chance to play advantage after being fouled.<\/p>\n
Haaland had quickly got up from a bad tackle to play a through-ball for Jack Grealish which could have led to a stoppage-time City winner.<\/p>\n
City have been charged with failing to control their players over the incident by the Football Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to know how the reaction should be when that last action happened,\u201d Guardiola said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t lose because of that action, maybe Jack wouldn\u2019t have scored.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I would like to know from the Premier League or whoever, how should we react in that situation? We want to be there, we want to compete against the top sides. It\u2019s a human instinct.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now the players would not react in that way, but in that moment someone tell me. They want to fine (us), we\u2019ll be fined. It\u2019s fine, but I promise you, if you are a footballer and it happened, you would react in that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened 20 years ago, 40 years ago. It will happen in 40 years. Of course you have to respect the referees. Tell me one player or manager who doesn\u2019t respect the referees, but it is emotions. It is feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n