Pep Guardiola aims brutal dig at Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea

Pep Guardiola stands on the brink of a fourth Premier League title in a row (Picture: Getty)

Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City’s domination of the Premier League is far from ‘boring’ and laughed off the accusation that his club have bought their success.

Victory against Tottenham this evening would see City move two points ahead of Arsenal and all but confirm an unprecedented fourth consecutive title.

While the reigning champions have continued to invest heavily in their squad, they have hardly been alone in doing so.

Indeed, they were outbid by the Gunners last summer as Mikel Arteta won the race to sign Declan Rice who has had such an influential role to play in the progress the Gunners have made this season.

Despite their relatively lowly league positions, Chelsea and United have also spent vast fortunes on new talent without tangible success or coming close to knocking City of their perch.

Asked if City’s relentless excellence has rendered the Premier League too predictable, Guardiola issued a cutting response.

‘People say we will win it because we won it in the past but that doesn’t mean it will happen today,’ he said.

‘Otherwise all the teams (who have won it) still would be winning instead of just winning one. We like to prove they are right but we have to do it.

‘It’s boring? It’s not. It is so difficult. Before do you know what it was? It was the money.

‘It was the reason why Man United should have won all the titles. All of them. And the second Chelsea, all the titles. And third Arsenal. All the titles.

‘They spend much more in the last five years than us net. They should be there but they are not.’

Man City moved a step closer to the title with a 4-0 win over Fulham last weekend (Picture: Getty)

Guardiola, meanwhile, may not understand the phrase ‘squeaky bum time’ but the City boss admits he feels ‘tension’ heading into final week of the season.

When Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous “squeaky bum time” comment, made in 2003 when the then Manchester United boss was trying to heap pressure on title rivals Arsenal, was put to the City manager it drew a puzzled look.

‘Translate please,’ said Guardiola. When City’s press officer tried to explain it in a way suitable for a public press conference, he got the meaning.

‘A lot of pressure? Why didn’t Sir Alex make an easier sentence for this moment?’ said Guardiola, speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Tottenham on Tuesday.

‘Now? No. Tomorrow we will feel the tension and the nerves. Of course we will feel it, otherwise it would be a bad sign.

Every game I feel the right tension, but at the same time I focus on what to do and read what is happening in the game. I try to not be so excited to take bad decisions and make my players a little bit anxious for my behaviour; sometimes it happened unfortunately for me and the team.

‘I don’t think any competitive football player or manager is numb and relaxed, saying: ‘It doesn’t matter’. Of course we know what we are playing for.

‘It is like a quarter-final, semi-final second-leg Champions League or FA Cup. It is something you can’t get back so it’s simple. Win – OK. Lose – bye, bye. So not very complicated.’

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