Pep Guardiola will not alter his approach on the back of a disappointing campaign for Manchester City.
Man City face Nottingham Forest at Wembley on Sunday, with a place in the FA Cup final on the line.
However, that trophy is all City can salvage from what has been a hugely frustrating season for Guardiola, whose team are battling for Champions League qualification but have been well off the pace in the Premier League title race.
City, who beat Aston Villa in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, have a healthy 95.7% chance of finishing in the top five, and though he has something of a rebuild to oversee this summer, Guardiola was adamant he will not change.
“The FA Cup win does not give you the certainty to come back to what we were,” said Guardiola, who is aiming to avoid his first trophyless season since his first campaign at City.
That is a title, it’s a number. Obviously, it would be nice to finish in that way, to take a little break before we go to the [Club] World Cup.
“But I will not change. It can happen to all the teams in the world, not just Manchester City. It surprised me in the mid-season, eight years to arrive at that stage.
“Now we are third in the table. There are reasons why we dropped, maybe unexpectedly, too much.
“I have the feeling that next season will be better. We will compete better. We will be more who we are.”
Nottingham Forest and Manchester City have met in the league twice this season, and have a victory each to their name
Who will be leaving Wembley Stadium with the win this weekend? #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/qQgiDaPCFD
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 23, 2025
City are aiming to reach a third straight FA Cup final. They beat Manchester United en route to winning the treble in 2023, but then lost to the Red Devils last season.
In fact, this will be City’s seventh consecutive appearance in an FA Cup semi-final.
On the other hand, this is Forest’s first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 1990-91.
However, with City having already lost to Forest once in the league this term, Guardiola knows his team face a stern test from a team that are rivalling them for Champions League qualification.
“It would be good to make a third [final] but we have a serious and tough, tough rival,” Guardiola said.
“The Nottingham Forest people and fans, it is a long time since they’ve played the semi-final of the FA Cup, but for many years we have been there in the competition.
“[Nuno Espirito Santo] has been incredible, qualifying for the Europa League with Wolves and now with Forest. He has done a really good job.”
Guardiola confirmed that Ederson has returned to training, though the goalkeeper may not be fit to feature on Sunday.
Erling Haaland, meanwhile, remains sidelined.
