Vincent Kompany says Pep Guardiola has made Manchester City into a 'machine'.
City won the Carabao Cup and clinched the Premier League title by amassing 100 points last season, and now have a historic Quadruple in their sights as they approach the final weeks of the season.
Guardiola’s men have already clinched the Carabao Cup again this season, and as well as having reached the FA Cup final they have their Premier League fate in their own hands, and are still in the Champions League.
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That is despite Kevin De Bruyne, the club’s player of the year last term, missing much of the campaign with various injuries, and Benjamin Mendy’s knee troubles keeping him out for over four months.
Kompany says that should be no surprise, however, as Guardiola has ensured his players are capable of stepping into the team and making a telling contribution whenever needed.
“I’m still amazed that people somehow misjudge our squad and still think it’s around individuals,” he told Goal and DAZN.
“If you look back 18 months ago when we did some of the performances that have ever been done in the Premier League, and if you can name me one player who stood out the whole year, it’s impossible.
“We stood out for a couple of weeks, months, whatever, but ultimately it’s a machine, and it’s the machine that’s brought us so far.
“He knows that whenever he needs anyone in the team he can just rotate the positions and based on form or whatever he usually doesn’t see a drop. That’s the strength of this team.”
That strength will be put to the test over the next seven days when City try to overcome a one-goal deficit in their Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham, before facing the same opposition in the league on Saturday and travelling to Manchester United a week on Wednesday.
But Kompany insists he 'only sees opportunities' as City prepare to tackle three of the biggest games of their season.
“You need to embrace it, that’s the only way I can look at this run of fixtures and make any sense out of it,” he added.
“You need to embrace it. You look at the run of games and think ‘difficult’ but if you look at every single game and break it down individually, I see opportunities.
“I’m sure it’ll transpire to the team and I’m sure that’s how we will approach these games.”
City will need to beat Spurs by two clear goals to reach the Champions League semi-finals, after Son Heung-min struck the only goal of the first leg in London.
After that match, City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said his side can not yet call themselves a 'big team' due to their negative reaction to Sergio Aguero’s missed penalty.
Kompany insists he did not see those statements, but says there is still time to change that perception.
“We have 90 minutes still to just prove everything we are, who we are and how we want to be remembered,” the Belgian continued.
“After the game it’s difficult sometimes to have the exact perspective when you’ve just finished the game and you feel as if the result and everything that happened within the game is the be-all-and-end-all, but now looking at it… God it’s a night of opportunities on Wednesday, I only see opportunities.
“I don’t see any reason to not embrace whatever the situation is that lies ahead.”
