City lucky to have Guardiola – Zabaleta

Pablo Zabaleta says Manchester City are lucky to have Pep Guardiola and the full-back expects the club to take the next step under his leadership.

Guardiola has made an impressive start to his tenure at the Etihad Stadium with three wins from three in the Premier League, while also securing their place in the Champions League.

The Spaniard arrived in Manchester having won Bundesliga and LaLiga titles with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, while also enjoying European success with the Catalan giants.

And that experience makes Zabaleta believe the current City squad can go from strength to strength in the coming years.

“I think for players when you have the opportunity to work with the best managers it’s something really special,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

“The experience will be great and I’m sure that in the next three years the club will make a step forward.

“I am absolutely sure of this because Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest managers and we are so lucky to have him at Manchester City.

“For him it’s a new experience of the Premier League, a different league, and so I think the players will need to try and help him.

“Especially those of us who have been here a long time who know the Premier League very well. We need to work as a group and try to play well.

“His style of play is maybe a bit different to what we’ve done in the past. But that is normal every time you work under a new manager with their own ideas. You have to work hard.”