Guardiola delighted by early-season form

Pep Guardiola is delighted with the start manchester city have made under his stewardship.

Pep Guardiola

City overcame the toughest test of their new manager’s reign so far as they beat Stoke 4-1 at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday , with Sergio Aguero and Nolito both netting twice.

It is their third straight victory under Guardiola, with an impressive 11 goals scored, and the quality of their play has surprised even the former Barcelona boss.

“I’m so happy for many of the things I see,” said the Spaniard. “For how they celebrated the goals, for how they celebrate after the game in the locker room, how they speak to each other – that is the first step to be considered a team that can fight for titles.

“It is impossible to say what is our target or what we can achieve. But in the short time together my players show me how intelligent they are. They are really good players, they have a lot of quality.

“We can show it here, in one of the toughest games in the premier league with these conditions, when it is windy. It is impossible to come here for 90 minutes and control the game.

“We created a lot of almost chances, we missed the last pass. But the rest, we saw again amazing team spirit, how they communicate with each other, how they celebrate the goals, after the game with the fans. That is the first step. We have to improve many, many things. We have time to do that.

“I am a little bit surprised, in the short time, with the level we played here and in Bucharest; it’s very good. We have scored nine goals in two games. It was a nice week for us.”

But while Guardiola is delighted with their start to the campaign, he still sees room for improvement.

He added: “We have only had one month together – there is time to get better.”