Pep Guardiola believes he missed something at Manchester City last season as his record-breaking side head to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
According to the Catalan manager, one of the crucial changes to his side was the decision to field Fabian Delph at left-back.
Victory over Palace would extend City’s record-breaking winning run in the top-flight to 19 matches and open up a 16-point advantage over second-place Chelsea.
It is a far cry from Pep’s debut season in England, where City only made sure of Champions League qualification in the final round of fixtures and finished trophyless.
Despite bolstering his squad with more than £200 million spent in the summer, the majority of the side have been drawn from players Guardiola led last season, making the former Barcelona coach ponder where he went wrong, Goal writes.
“Now when I speak with my staff I say that, in the end, we are playing with nine players from last season. So, we did something not good last season,” he said. “We missed something.
“We didn’t change seven or eight players. I think the new players give energy, with the way they are in the locker room. New faces always help teams.
“But last season I missed something, when nine players who normally play are the same and the players in midfield and up front are the same.
“Something happened. Of course, they know us better and we know them better. Sometimes you need more time to adjust.”
Marquee signing Benjamin Mendy’s cruciate knee ligament injury led to Delph being deployed at left-back – and the England midfielder has been superb in the role.
“Last season, for example, I never thought to play Fabian Delph at full-back,” Guardiola reflected, before mocking some of the lavish praise recently sent his way.
“‘Oh, the brilliant Pep, how talented he is…’. Why didn’t I do that last season?
“Sometimes you need more time to see things. Now Mendy isn’t there. Fabian is there, he is able, he is smart, he is a midfield player.
“He gives us character. He is a real leader in the locker room, Fabian Delph. That’s why I always give credit to the players for what they do.”
Guardiola is delighted to see the bond that has developed between his players and believes it will be crucial if they are to emerge champions.
“The players who do not play regularly, they are exceptional human beings,” he added. “We cannot create something when the people who do not play regularly, they always create problems, have bad faces and bad behaviour.
“You can ask all the managers who have success and win titles, always there is a common thing – the group is strong. Not 11 players, the group.
“Everyone has desire to win, everybody wants to win and dreams to do that. When that happens, everything can happen.”