Guardiola: I needed time to settle

Guardiola won a trophy in both of his first seasons at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but failed to claim any silverware last term after taking over from Manuel Pellegrini at City in the summer of 2016.

The under-par start to the Spaniard's managerial career in England led to some questioning his ability to adapt to the Premier League, but his new-look side already have a five-point lead at the top of the table and have already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages with two games to spare.

Guardiola told 'Sky Sports' in a recent interview that he is grateful he was given time to shape his squad and revealed how much he is enjoying his time at the Etihad.

"Last season, we were not able to win one game away in the Champions League and this season we have won two, and hopefully against Shakhtar Donetsk we can do so again," he said.

"The people expect that when a new manager comes it, that it can instantly work and sometimes people forget that you need time to settle something.

"Get the players to know each other, to trust each other, to know everything about the Premier League - the opponents, the style of play, the referees - and it doesn't matter how much success you had in the past or not, you need time sometimes.

"Fortunately, I am a lucky guy and I have a club where they give me time to do that, so I don't have the feeling that they don't trust me and that is fascinating. That's why I'm so happy to be here.

"I think the players know that we can do what we do and it is tough for the opponent. That is the feeling we have right now but sometimes the opponent is better, like Napoli.

"We did quite well but they are outstanding so I accept that reality. You need to be mentally strong to recover and to take our moment and come back. The feeling is that we do what we have done, and that is tough for the opponents. We want to continue showing everything we can in every game."

Over the summer, Guardiola transformed his team, bringing in young talent such as Ederson, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy, which he sees as a step in the right direction.

"It's a normal situation because the important generation of players over the last few years got older so it's simple like that. You have to change like you change the manager or change the players, it is what it is.

"Of course it [the squad] is younger, with our strikers and midfielders, then there is Phil [Foden] and the new ones coming through so that's good to have. You have the young ones in our side who are protected with older players like Yaya Toure and Nicolas Otamendi, and we need players who have that experience.

"We play in the Champions League sometimes with the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane, and I think the age is 21 years on average so in playing on the bigger stages, that is good for the future of the club."