Dias relishing Man City tag as side everyone love to hate amid latest Treble bid
Ruben Dias says Manchester City are relishing the fact they are the team everyone loves to hate.
Pep Guardiola ’s state-owned Treble winners have become the dominant force in English football and are on course for an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title. They are favourites to retain the Champions League, after finally conquering Europe last season, and look set to dominate at home and abroad for years to come.
That success has come against a backdrop of suspicion, with City facing 115 charges of breaking Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules, with rival clubs and fans envious of their new-found success.
City defender Dias says such jealously towards the Blues serves to push them even more and the players love the fact so many outside of the club want to see them fail. “People love to talk and the more you win, the more successful you are as a team and an individual, the more people want to take you down," said Dias.
“We take it. Please make noise around us because it will just make it bigger every time we win again. That’s purely how I take it. There has been a noise before and people love the scenario of us not making it, but we love doing it.
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“We are in a very difficult place precisely because we did the Treble last season. It makes it most difficult to keep those levels up and I’m not talking about a Treble, I’m talking about winning trophies again.
“After a season like we had, it’s very easy for you to relax, it’s very easy for you to feel like you’ve accomplished something and obviously we have accomplished something very big and special to all of us, to the club and to the fans.
Dias insists City have not got complacent after winning the Treble last season (Manchester City FC via Getty Images)“But we know that the biggest thing we can do is, when we are on the pitch, be blind to it and just keep on doing it.” Under Guardiola, City have won five of the last six titles, and can go top of the table tomorrow with victory over Everton at home in the lunchtime kick-off.
Although success this season is the squad’s immediate aim, Dias said there is a desire to continue that golden period for years to come and to make the club one of the most successful in Europe.
“We want this club to grow, not just for a few seasons, but throughout time and the consistency with which we keep winning is what makes a club as big as it can be,” Dias told the MEN.
City have won the Premier League five times in the last six years under Pep Guardiola (PA)“There’s nothing in our minds saying ‘we’ve won a Treble, we’re so good, it’s going to be easy now’. It’s exactly the opposite - it's going to be more difficult. There’s going to be more hatred and more people trying to take us down and there are going to be more opponents.
“We take it as it is, because this is the normal process of winning. We will be ready for it.” With City two points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand, facing Copenhagen in the Champions League and Luton in the FA Cup, Dias said they are right where they want to be.
“This is what we’re here for, to be alive at this stage and now to do what we do best,” said Dias. “In terms of motivation, since I arrived at this club, this is the one thing where I felt the most difference from many other teams - teams I've been in and other teams I've heard about.
City sit just two points behind league leaders Liverpool with a game in hand (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)“When you get to this stage it’s very beautiful, but it’s only very beautiful with the right people at your side. Many people at this time of the year start talking that they're injured or feel a bit of pain.
“'Who are we playing against, the team right below us? It's going to be a tough match, maybe I don't feel too good.' In other contexts, that's when people start to feel a bit this or that, but here everyone wants to be involved and play.
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“Everyone wants to go forward and win and eventually that is the one thing that makes that rollercoaster not stop. That mentality has been decisive over the last few years. We know what we have to do to win again.”
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