28 January 2023 , 17:00
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Pep Guardiola produced a managerial masterstroke by calling out Manchester City's under-performing players, according to Nathan Ake.
Guardiola accused his City players of lacking “passion, fire and desire” after they had to come from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 4-2 in the Premier League. Since that blast, City have beaten Wolves 3-0 and knocked Premier League leaders and title rivals Arsenal out of the FA Cup on Friday.
Defender Ake – who scored the winner against the Gunners – hailed Guardiola for the wake-up call City's players needed to get their season back on track.
“Obviously he said it for a reason,” said Ake. “Maybe it did dip a bit, but over the last few games we've shown we want to try, we want to compete and we did that again against Arsenal.
“We want to make sure we will keep fighting for everything. That’s the only thing we can do as a team and a club. We thought ‘okay, we have to improve.’ He’s been in the game so long, and seen everything, so he’s probably right. He’s been at top, top clubs and probably did it to wake us up. It was needed and hopefully we can keep it going now.
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“The only thing we can do as a team is fight back and show everyone and ourselves we still have that fight and hunger. For us it's just good to our keep run going.
“We have to keep it going, not just now but for the whole season. We can’t let it drop again or get in a period like that again. From now we have to make sure we keep going. We've had a little wake-up call and have to make sure this is it from here.”
Pep Guardiola went public with some home truths about Man City's current state earlier this month (Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)Arsenal hold a five-point lead over City with a game in hand, but the two sides face each other twice in the league in the second half of the season, with the first clash at the Emirates on February 15.
Ake, 27, acknowledged the consistency and form of Mikel Arteta's side, but claimed City can control the destiny of the title, given they face the Gunners twice and can decimate their lead.
“We just have to keep focused on ourselves,” said Ake. “As long as we do our thing, game by game, trying to win every one of them. Arsenal are doing so well this season, but we still have to play them twice so, yes, it’s up to us really.
“They’re a top team. We saw that last year when we played them in January. They were already looking really good and it was difficult against them.
“They showed again, they pressed us very high and it was difficult to play out. So it’s tough to play against them - they are a top team and doing really well.
“Obviously when we play them again in a couple of weeks it will be a totally different game, but it’s always good to win – especially against a team like Arsenal and it can only do us good.”