Pep Guardiola emphasised that Manchester City are focused on building a squad for the “next few years”, with players expected to grow and develop over time.

City debuted four players in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad: James Trafford, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, and Rayan Cherki.

After conceding first-half goals from Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha, City’s two-goal deficit was only the sixth time under Guardiola that they had trailed a Premier League home game by 2+ goals at half-time, with Tottenham responsible for half of those (3/6), including three of the last four (also Jan 2023 & Nov 2024).

Saturday’s defeat also marked Guardiola’s 10th loss against Spurs in his managerial career, tying Liverpool for the most defeats he has suffered against a single team.

Speaking after the match, Guardiola said: “Everybody trained really good and I don’t have any complaints, we have energy and they have quality but just the simple things [against Spurs], we missed it. Through the games we are going to get it.

“We need the continuity with the passes and we cannot attack in three or four passes. We missed it a little bit, that’s all.”

Looking ahead, Guardiola highlighted the long-term vision for the squad: “It’s a team we’re going to have for the next [few] years. We have a squad and when we finish next Sunday and have the international break, we will move forward with that squad.”