by After an extraordinary season of 60 games in which Manchester City became the second English club in history to win the treble of the Premier League title, the European Cup and the FA Cup, it would be understandable if the players did well this term to alleviate.
And then Nathan Ake reminds you that Pep Guardiola is their manager and the idea of slacking off is just alien to such a serial winner.
“I don’t know how he does it,” says the City and Dutch defender with a mixture of wonder and amazement. “The things he’s won, you’d think you could chill, but he doesn’t allow that.
“He wants more and more immediately. If you have someone in front of you with that mindset, the team takes that with them as well.
“We are never satisfied and, even this season, we want to go again. The manager says every day he wants us to go again and automatically you take that and everyone wants it.”
In fact, that was evident after the opening 45 minutes of City’s 3-0 win over Burnley. Erling Haaland, who put City 2-0 ahead inside 36 minutes, was furious with Bernardo Silva for denying him the chance of a hat-trick by not playing him late in the first period.
Guardiola took a different view and, as soon as the half-time whistle blew, he proceeded to tell his star man, with his usual maddened intensity, why he was wrong – and his team-mate was right. And that was in public.
Ake gives you a look that suggests the private rollickings are something else entirely. “Oh yeah, 100 percent,” he says, puffing out his cheeks before laughing. “It doesn’t matter if we win, if we play badly…
“This season we’ve had games that looked like it from the outside [it was] all bad and there were moments when you thought he would kill us.
“But he would come into the meetings and say, ‘We played well, maybe a few things [we could have done better] but you did well not to listen to the things outside’.
“[The 2-2 draw against Crystal] Palace recently, for example, where it looked bad but Pep showed us clips and the way we played was OK.
“But then you also have games where the outside is [world] says it was perfect and we won 3-0 or something and he’ll turn you on because there are things in the game he didn’t like.”
The point is that Guardiola is never sated. Already this season City have added the European Super Cup and, last month, a first Club World Cup to the collection and Ake believes the players take extra inspiration from the manager’s relentless approach.
“Every player in this team has it anyway but Pep tops it with his stature and all the awards he’s won,” says Ake. “If you still have someone in front of you that pushes you every day, we’ll be at the next level.”
City, of course, did not have it their own way this season. A five-week hiatus before Christmas saw Guardiola’s side pick up just seven points from six games, with a 1-0 win at Aston Villa following three consecutive draws against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham and encouraging the leadership of the -players. call a squad meeting.
However, title rivals City have been unable to take full advantage of their struggles during that period and, if they beat Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday, the champions will trail leaders Liverpool by just two points.
“We were struggling a bit at one point but the gap is not too big and that also encouraged us,” says Ake. “[The attitude was] ‘Okay, win these two games [Everton and Sheffield United] and we’re there again and we can compete again knowing that usually towards the end of the season we’ll kick on and hopefully we’ll do the same. But there is still a long way to go. Liverpool look strong. Arsenal are still there after two defeats [to West Ham and Fulham].”
Ake admits the prospect of making more history by becoming the first English club to win four titles in a row is a huge boost for the City squad. “Yes, because this has never been done,” he says. “We know it would be incredible to do it as a team.”
If last season was a historic one for City, it also happened to be the best of Ake’s career and he has continued that fine form into this season, embracing the added competition on offer when the second most expensive defender ever came in one way. best to do.
“Even though we won the treble, that’s the power of this club – they’re not just relaxing and thinking, ‘Oh, we’re good’,” Ake says of Josko Gvardiol’s £77million signing from RB Leipzig.
“They go for the next one and the next one and the next one and I think that’s a good thing. Because those new players are 100 per cent hungry to win their first Premier League title and that brings everyone up a level again.”
12 months ago Guardiola said after a 4-2 win at home to Tottenham that City could not play without Ake. It wasn’t hyperbole. At the time, the team was still grappling with the transition to a 3-2-4-1 system but Ake was a model of consistency amidst the inconsistency.
“Last season wasn’t great but it was my best year so far,” he says. “My first season [at City] that was not great. I had to learn a lot, go through injuries and it was a season to forget. The second season I started to understand more what the manager wanted and I felt better how I was playing, more relaxed as things started to come together. Then last season was when I was very comfortable and completely confident.”
The thought that Ake could be playing in a different shade of blue that season is fantastic. Chelsea tried to re-sign the Dutchman the previous summer but he did not forget the faith Guardiola showed in him after a difficult 12 months when his future was in question.
“After the first season there were many times when you thought, ‘Are they even happy with me?’ Ake recalls. “They could have said, ‘This is not what we want’ and gone somewhere else but they always had confidence in me. The manager came up to me at the end of the first season and said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ve got injuries, it’s not how we wanted it to go… but you can play in different positions so you’ll be very important. for us so carry on’. That gave me a lot of confidence and the confidence I needed and from there I started to kick on.
“Yeah, sure [you remember that when another team shows interest]. It shows that they still trusted me at difficult times when I wasn’t at my best.
“Since I arrived, the way I’ve grown personally in every aspect – on the ball, off the ball, intellectually, is a different level. The manager takes every game so seriously. It’s a huge part of my development.”
Away from football, Ake relaxes by playing the piano. The arrival of a child’s daughter 14 months ago may have been very unfortunate with the time he has to practice but he himself has promised to change that this year.
“I’m getting worse because since the baby came along I haven’t really had time to exercise,” says Ake. “But I told my wife [Kaylee] my new year’s resolution is to start right again.”
He likes to play songs with the Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi and his South Korean colleague, Yiruma, and he is not the only Dutch footballer who has talents in wearing the ivories. Both Ake and Stefan de Vrij have small electronic pianos in their rooms when they are away on international duty, although their love of the instrument was not shared by everyone at the Euros a few years ago.
“At one point they brought in a proper piano but players would be relaxing and it was just Stefan and I playing listening to them and they managed to get rid of it,” Ake explains jokingly. “Everyone got sick of us. It was a nice break for us though.”
Ake was just 14 when Guardiola’s Barcelona won six trophies in 2009. Fourteen years later, he is still coming to terms with being part of Guardiola’s Galway City team that won five trophies in 2023. “When you see teams like that [Barcelona] You’ve won so many awards that you think it’s unbelievable,” he says.
“It’s hard to do that and still be yourself. The only time you’ll really recognize it is after your career is when you start looking back to see what you’ve achieved.”
For now, though, he’s just looking forward — and dreaming of more silverware to come.
