Guardiola makes it simple for City to be fun, says Gundogan

Manchester, November 7: The hard work of Pep Guardiola has made it simple for Manchester City to play "fun" football, according to midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

City have been in sensational form, delighting spectators with a slick, attacking brand of football in a brilliant start to the Premier League season that has them eight points clear at the summit.

Guardiola's side are unbeaten in 17 matches in all competitions this season, scoring 52 goals and conceding just 11 in that run.

Gundogan says the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss gives them all the tools needed to play in a fashion that has drawn so much praise this term.

"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. This makes everything a lot easier for us," Gundogan told SPOX.com.

"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.

"Last season we already had a lot of opportunities, but we did not score so many goals. Now we are way more dangerous. Our strikers score from almost every opportunity.

"In combination with our good passing game and possession-based 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 that we can use."

Despite the international break applying a temporary halt on City's momentum, Gundogan believes it could be useful to help them avoid complacency during the Premier League's busy festive period.

"There are some teams which are able to stop us - but first of all ourselves. It is maybe going too good for us at the moment," said the Germany international.

"Maybe the international break is coming at the right moment, because the recent games have been a bit closer than those in the beginning of the season – but the opponents have been tougher too.

"Now we must hope that all the players keep fit while playing for their countries and then everything starts from the beginning.

"In November, December and January the season finally really starts, there are lots of games in this time. Then we must prove that we don't rest on our good start, that we have an extremely good squad and play in an unequalled way. This is our aim and should also be our demand."

Source: OPTA