Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City will continue to play in the style he demands despite not challenging for the Premier League title in his first season.
City are currently in fourth place.
Gary Neville, a Sky pundit, questioned whether the technically astute side Guardiola is building can ever win the Premier League, wondering whether it will ever be physical enough.
Guardiola was adamant he will not change his approach.
“The only power I have is that the team will play the way I want to play,” he said. “I would like to be a physical strong team with fast and good headers but the team is going to play the way I want to. Gary Neville played in England, he didn’t play in another country so he can’t compare. I am not talking about for example in Germany [saying] the people are not physical, or another country … Atlético Madrid [in Spain], I am not saying they are not physical. It’s quite similar.
“They play more often here and contact is more allowed – that is the only difference I have found. The game is 11 v 11, football is one ball and what quality you have. The more mentally strong you are the more chance you have to win the games.”