Mancity Chairman Al Mubarak FIRST END-SEASON INTERVIEW
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “We have to pause and contextualize. Since 1926, five teams attempted to win [the English top-flight] four times in a row. Huddersfield, Arsenal, you had Liverpool in the 80s and then you had Manchester United attempted it twice. None of them succeeded..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: "In 100+ years of English football, never has any team been able to achieve four championships
in a row. Once that sinks in, you start really appreciating the magnitude of what #ManCity achieved - the difficulty, challenge, tenacity..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on what is next for #ManCity after winning four #PL titles in a row: “Five in a row..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “Five in a row in our minds happened the second that final whistle [blew] against West Ham.
I remember going down to the pitch and telling almost everybody: ‘Excellent, fantastic, we're so proud. But now we’re going for five in a row'..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “In the last game of the season, the chair of the #PL, Alison [Brittain], delivered the trophy to Pep [Guardiola] and the #ManCity team. She came afterwards, and we had a conversation and she told me something that I think
echoed very much in my heart..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “She said, ‘You have to be very proud. I encountered something quite unique giving the trophy to the #ManCity team... Every single member of the team looked me in the eye and said thank you with a smile and with respect and it’s quite remarkable'..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: "'Normally in these things, players are in a rush or are too
busy'..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “The chair of the FA, Debbie [Hewitt], sent a nice email after the #EmiratesFACup final. She said, ‘We saw something very special. Obviously, commiserations, but never have we seen a team put a guard of honour to the winning team. And #ManCity did that'..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “The way the players, coaches, every member of #ManCity, from board members
to management, the way we behaved, she said, was a great reflection of how this team is in terms of respect, humbleness and just the attitude..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on Pep Guardiola's #ManCity future: “This decision is always a decision that we will take together, and I have no doubt that we will find, as always, as always we have done, the right solution that works for Pep and works for
us..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on #ManCity's 115 charges: "It's frustrating. The references is always frustrating, having it talked about the way it's being talked about. I can feel of course for our fanbase, everyone associated with Man City, to have these charges constantly referenced..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: "We as a club have to respect that there is a process that we have to go through and
we are going through it. It's taking longer than anyone hoped for but it is what it is..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on #ManCity's 115 charges: "I've always repeated in every interview I've done with you [#ManCity], let's be judged by the facts and not by claims and and counter claims..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “You won’t see the same level [in the #PL] as the last years, because of the levels
of regulations that have come in over the last 12 months. The manoeuvrability in place before allowed teams to do what they were able to do in the past..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “It’s hard to put into words what Pep has given #ManCity. You can look at just records for history’s sake, and there I think he’s racked up every record almost in the book and these are records that I think will
be very, very hard, in the future to break…”
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “From winning six out of the last seven #PL’s, winning four in a row, the number of wins... the records go on and on. His impact on football, English football has changed with the evolution to the type of football Pep has brought…”
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on Erling Haaland : "Expectations are incredible.
Look at Erling on a stand-alone basis; many weeks out due to injury, and ended up with 38 goals. People think this is an off year! Erling is Erling, goal machine, the best striker in the world…”
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on Rodri: "The standard of excellence is extraordinary. He is extraordinary! The position he plays is not glamorous but he is absolutely fundamental to #ManCity and one of the
most critical reasons why we continue to win and succeed…”
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on #ManCity's transfer plans: "We're very careful in keeping the squad always fresh, with a mixture of new players, players leaving at the right time, and then a boost from the academy. That tells you everything, we always maintain balance..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak on @PhilFoden: “I’ve had the privilege of watching Phil develop from being an eight-year-old... and then making it all the way to the first team. Throughout that journey, it was clear to all of us where Phil was going..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: "And it was always about, giving him the right environment and ecosystem and the right development, framework around him to help
him grow to what he is today, arguably one of the most decorated English footballers ever..."
Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “A nice story about Phil Foden . The last game of the #PL season, the day before West Ham, I was attending practice, the last before the game. Practice finished and all the players left, but one was still on the pitch taking shot after shot after shot.
He was at the central point of the 18-yard line, taking shots on target alone. I walked towards him and he made one brilliant shot into the top corner. I spoke to him and said: ‘Phil, wonderful, but keep that for tomorrow.’ Sure enough, next day, three minutes in, he does exactly that shot..."
