Ruben Dias says Manchester City relish ‘noise’ from critics
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Manchester City's Portuguese defender Ruben Dias said that the “noise... will just make it bigger every time we win again”.
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON – Manchester City defender Ruben Dias struck a defiant tone at detractors who have suggested that his team’s standards have slipped this season after their treble-winning 2022-23 season, suggesting the “noise... will just make it bigger every time we win again”.
He told Manchester Evening News: “People love to talk and the more you win, the more successful you are as a team and an individual, the more people want to take you down.
“We take it. Please make noise around us because it will just make it bigger every time we win again. That’s purely how I take it.
“There has been a noise before and people love the scenario of us not making it but we love doing it.
“We are in a very difficult place precisely because we did the treble last season. It makes it most difficult to keep those levels up...
“But we know that the biggest thing we can do is, when we are on the pitch, be blind to it and just keep on doing it.”
City can top the English Premier League for a few hours at least if they beat Everton at home on Feb 10 and Pep Guardiola’s side are again firm favourites to end the season there.
But a record fourth successive English league title is perhaps not the foregone conclusion some are predicting.
Phil Foden’s hat-trick inspired City to a 3-1 win at Brentford on Feb 5 – City’s fifth league win in a row – to put them two points behind Liverpool with a game in hand.
It all feels ominously familiar, with City looking capable again of the long winning streak that ultimately grinds down those seeking to end their domination of the top flight.
“It does feel at the moment as though City winning the title is a formality,” former Arsenal striker Alan Smith said. “But Pep Guardiola and City certainly won’t be taking anything for granted.
“Anything can happen and injuries could always knock them off balance but maybe that is wishful thinking!”
According to entertainment data experts Gracenote, City are 57 per cent likely to win the title.
This is because there appears to be a genuine three-horse title race after Arsenal’s superb victory over leaders Liverpool last weekend. The Gunners are tied with City on 49 points.
Only on nine occasions since the formation of the Premier League in 1992 have two points separated the top three at least 23 matches into a season.
And the way all three clubs are playing – assuming Liverpool’s below-par display in north London was just a blip – it could stay tight at the top right into the climax of the season. REUTERS
