Man City can show Pep Guardiola how far they've come in 10 months vs Tottenham

Pep Guardiola only launched his 'Happy Flowers' rant after Manchester City overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Tottenham 4-2 in January. If they had lost or drawn, we may never have learned his true feelings.

It turned out to be the biggest three points of the season as the extraordinary attack on his own club from Guardiola proved to be a turning point on the way to winning the treble. Fast forward and there are similarities to City's form going into the fixture against Tottenham this weekend as there was going into January's Etihad showdown.

City are hardly playing badly, but they can play better. They are not top of the Premier League, and there are some players out of form.

Pep Guardiola already knows exactly what Tottenham will do vs Man City

Pep Guardiola warns Man City about Tottenham defeats ahead of Premier League game

They have developed a slightly-concerning habit of conceding avoidable goals - particularly from direct balls on the break. They were 2-0 down at the break on Tuesday to RB Leipzig in the Champions League and have fallen behind on a number of occasions this season.

Indeed there is a feeling City are yet to properly click this season and can still go up a gear or two - but that is hardly a surprise. If anything, it's consistent with previous campaigns where the August to Christmas period has been less consistent than when the winning runs get going around December and into the New Year.

Among Guardiola's complaints in January were that nobody protected teenager Rico Lewis when Spurs subjected him to extremely physical treatment. He included the City fans for being as complacent as the player and told the club they needed to improve their mentality if they wanted to challenge for titles.

T