Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 6y

Vincent Kompany pushing Man City to win more trophies this season

LONDON -- Vincent Kompany has seen many great Manchester City sides in his 10 years at the club and says the current team still have a lot to achieve if they are to be considered the best of them.

The defender picked up his sixth winners' medal as City captain after his man-of-the-match performance in the Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal.

City have been beaten just three times all season and are being lauded as one of the great Premier League teams under Pep Guardiola, but Kompany says they can only be judged by the trophies they won.

"We'll have to see when the trophies are coming. If we win more and consistently, if we can the Premier League then go again and again, then this team will be better than the previous one," he told reporters.

"We have scored hundreds of goals as well with [previous manager Manuel] Pellegrini. It's been a feature of this club for many years now.

"I kind of want to keep that hunger in the team, so I don't want to put people on a pedestal when we haven't achieved all of our targets yet. So, for now, well done, keep going."

However, Kompany couldn't deny his personal joy at City's success at Wembley. The Belgium international has played in just 13 of City's 43 matches this season but made a big impact in the win over Arsenal and celebrated wildly when he steered in the second goal of a 3-0 win.

"It means the world to me," he said. "I don't plan the celebrations, as you can see. It's just pure emotion. What you can see is what I feel.

"It's not just about how I see it for myself. It's about what I want to achieve for the club, with my team-mates. It's a journey we've all been on and this is one trophy. I want us to go another journey and get another trophy. And that's all it is really."

It is the first silverware of Guardiola's reign at the club and City have an opportunity to add two more trophies before the end of the season.

They are overwhelming favourites for the Premier League title with a 13-point lead over Manchester United and are all-but certain of a place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League after a 4-0 first leg victory away to FC Basel.

But Kompany says they must also prove they are among the best teams in Europe, who are regulars in the later stages of the Champions League.

"There is belief but we are not favourites above the big ones -- Real Madrid, Barcelona. We're just trying to fight our way in there and maybe shake things up a little bit," he added.

"But one thing at a time. We have to play Basel first. It's too early to call it. You've seen PSG is a great team but they've gone to Madrid and you know what happened there. So we have to be careful, saying too much."

If he can stay fit, Kompany believes that Guardiola now has four top central defenders to choose between for the rest of the season following the club-record signing of £57 million defender Aymeric Laporte.

"Otamendi has been unbelievable, he's been an outstanding performer all season, on the same level as all the lads going forward," he said.

"Stones had an incredible time before his injury. Laporte is coming in and looks like he's going to help us a lot and I'm doing my bit. It's more like a team of centre-backs rather than one or two that will play every game. It's great to know that you can rely on anyone who turns up on the weekend.

"I'm fortunate to be at a club where I get incredible support from the medical staff. But a lot of it is just my own doing. Just absolute stubbornness. I kind of almost get enjoyment out of adversity in life. However bad it can be, I've always been like this. Kind of the wrong guy to bet against."

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