Why Pep Guardiola is correct about one of Man City's success factors

On Friday afternoon, Pep Guardiola faced a barrage of Erling Haaland-related questions in the media theatre at the City Football Academy.

The Manchester City manager was doing his pre-game press conference prior to City's Premier League matchup against Southampton on Saturday, but as has been the case for the majority of the season, reporters really only wanted him to talk about one player.

Guardiola acknowledged that reality, giving credit to the rest of his players - some of whom can boast four Premier League medals - for the way they have accepted the superstar status of their new teammate. Placed in another dressing room, the 22-year-old striker might not have enjoyed the wildly successful start to his Premier League career that he has at City.

"We are fortunate that the guys who are here accept it perfectly," Pep said of the attention constantly being given to Haaland.

"There are other guys who would not like it. Guys who had won four or five Premier Leagues and yet all the talk was about Erling? They would not like it in other clubs."

Guardiola is right, of course, but the attitudes of his players should come as no surprise. This is just the latest example of City reaping the rewards of the culture that Guardiola and the club's executives have worked so hard to create since the coach arrived at the club in 2016.

For City's players, the team really does come first. Aymeric Laporte played through the final stretch of last season in a considerable amount of pain, determined not to add to City's already-serious injury crisis in defence.

His selfless decision ultimately worsened his knee injury to the extent that he needed surgery over the summer. On Wednesday night he made his first start for the Blues since the final day of last season.

In recent seasons there have been numerous players who - willing to sacrifice personal aspirations and career goals - have played in unnatural positions and plugged gaps for the good of the team. Oleksandr Zinchenko is the obvious example; for five seasons he stuck around at the Etihad despite rarely playing in his preferred midfield role, happy to fill in at left-back and spend prolonged periods out of the side when everyone else was fit.

Bernardo Silva is another. It's common knowledge that the Portuguese midfielder has been unsettled in Manchester for a while, and wanted to leave City in each of the past three summers. Yet when on each occasion it became clear that no suitable offer was going to arrive for him, he knuckled down and played with the same commitment and passion that he always has.

Riyad Mahrez was City's top goalscorer in all competitions last season, but this season he has started just three games. Some star players would throw a tantrum and sulk if their role diminished so drastically, but that doesn't happen in this squad.

This is no coincidence; when City hired Guardiola in 2016 they weren't just hiring a coach to decide the tactics on matchday, but someone with a vision and clear specifications of how things should be done. Under Guardiola, finding players with the right character and attitude has been just as important as finding those technically gifted enough to play in his system.

City's dressing room shouldn't just be credited with helping Haaland to succeed - the culture at City is a huge reason for the team's success as a whole.