Manchester City

Ilkay Gundogan: 'Pep Guardiola makes our life easy'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 07 November 2017

Gundogan: 'Guardiola makes our life easy'

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan hails manager Pep Guardiola for 'making everything a lot easier' for him and his teammates.

Ilkay Gundogan has suggested that Manchester City's early-season success is largely down to the work of manager Pep Guardiola, who he credits for making "everything a lot easier" for him and his teammates.

Following a trophyless campaign in the Catalan coach's first campaign at the Etihad Stadium helm, City look good value to lift silverware at home and abroad come the end of 2017-18.

Gundogan has played a small part in the Citizens' bright start to the season, making six substitute appearances in the Premier League since returning from another long-term layoff, but he believes that Guardiola is the man most deserving of the praise.

"Maybe Pep has the biggest share of our good run. He finds solutions for every opponent and every single situation and cares about every detail," he told SPOX.com. "This makes everything a lot easier for us.

"The way we play stands out on its own: very attractive, very quick, many opportunities, many goals. Right now, it's great fun to watch us play. We are way more dangerous in front of the goal now. Our strikers make a goal from almost every opportunity.

"In combination with our good passing game and dominant football, it is easier for us to dominate the opponents. At some point in the game, the opponent has to react and then we receive even bigger open spaces, we can use."

City have made the joint-best start to a Premier League campaign of any side in the competition's history, while also making it through to the last 16 of the Champions League and quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.