Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest has extended their Premier League winning run to six matches and moved Pep Guardiola’s side within two points of leaders Arsenal. Guardiola links this
surge in form to a renewed sense of "energy" that started around the Club World Cup during the summer.
That improvement follows a difficult previous campaign, when Manchester City ended the season without a trophy for the first time since 2016-17. During that period, the team lost four straight league fixtures, which was Manchester City’s poorest sequence in the competition since 2008 and raised questions about their direction.
Guardiola believes the Club World Cup, despite an early exit, played a key role in Manchester City’s reset. Manchester City went out in the last 16 to Al-Hilal, yet Guardiola feels performances at that tournament allowed the squad to rediscover intensity in training and matches, and to reconnect with the team’s usual identity.
Explaining the shift, Guardiola said: "Energy, energy, energy. We lost it last season. We started to train better, compete better. We needed energy and then you have a good environment. When we went out to Al-Hilal, it wasn't the fact that we didn't win but that we were so good there. I think there, after talking with [City assistants] Pep [Lijnders] and James [French], Manel [Estiarte], Hugo [Viana], Txiki [Begiristain], we turned around and said something changed. Something [you can feel]. It doesn't mean you are going to win, but that you are able to recognise the team. It is not easy to compete in a way we do. We have to improve, absolutely, but this mindset is better. "
Guardiola is currently in the tenth season of a spell in charge that has already reshaped Manchester City’s modern era. Even after so long at the club, Guardiola says this refreshed mindset has affected staff as well as players, giving coaches a clearer sense that Manchester City are again playing to their usual standards.
| Season | Manchester City league run |
|---|---|
| Last season | Four consecutive league defeats |
| Current season | Six consecutive league wins |
Part of that new feeling comes from Manchester City’s summer recruitment. Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Gianluigi Donnarumma joined before the new campaign, changing the dynamics of the dressing room and giving Guardiola fresh players to study, guide and fit into Manchester City’s existing tactical structure.
Guardiola described how those transfers affected personal motivation. He said: "New players, I want to help them. When you've got the same players it is, 'Ah, tired. ' But new players you think, 'ah, how is this guy?', and try to analyse. The energy comes from there. Energy can go down but energy can go up. Never in our lives is it the same. In professional or personal, you'll never be happy all the time but never sad all the time. You have to realise why, to realise what we missed, to come back. "
Cherki Reijnders Our @Sure Move of the Match vs Forest pic.twitter.com/z9Kx3LBgJTManchester City (@ManCity) December 28, 2025
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City look ahead in Premier League
Manchester City now move from the win over Nottingham Forest into another key domestic fixture against Sunderland on Thursday. The club are also strongly linked with Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo, as Manchester City consider further additions that could maintain momentum in the Premier League and other competitions this season.
Guardiola’s comments underline a belief that mental and physical freshness, shaped by the Club World Cup experience and by arrivals such as Cherki, Reijnders and Donnarumma, has pushed Manchester City back towards familiar levels. With six league wins in a row and the gap to Arsenal reduced, Manchester City head into the Sunderland match with confidence but also with an acceptance that more improvement is still required.
