But there are plenty of others willing to disagree him the Etihad chief morning.
CIty turned in a breath-taking display to became the first English team to beat Shakhtar Donetsk on their own patch.
And in truth the Ukrainians must be relieved it was only three – Paulo Fonseca's men got off lightly.
David Silva was once again in sparkling form – adding to his winner in Hoffenheim earlier this month by breaking the deadlock here.
Further goals from Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo suggest their defeat to Lyon in the opener last month was a mere hiccup.
Surely they will push on from here to book a place in the knock-out stages with something to spare from here.
And in this kind of irresistible form, it's hard to think of too many teams better equipped to go deep in the competition this season.
After a relatively quiet start to the season, Guardiola's men are coming to the boil nicely now – and the manager's options are frightening.
Kevin de Bruyne was named in Pep Guardiola's line up – the first time he has started a game since the World Cup third place play off with England in mid-July.
The Belgian has been out with a knee ligament injury for two months but made his comeback as a sub against Burnley at the weekend.
Meanwhile Sergio Aguero – who was hoping to make his 50th appearance in the competition for City – found himself on the bench.
Shakhtar's proud home record against English clubs looked in danger right from the first whistle.
An acrobatic effort from Silva landed on the top of the net while De Bruyne saw a goalbound effort blocked.
City's Spanish magician played a beautiful pass through to Gabriel Jesus but the Brazilian looked short of confidence and waited too long – allowing Andriy Pyatov to save.
A rapid break from a Shakhtar corner saw Raheem Sterling play in Riyad Mahrez but the record signing rolled his effort wide.
And minutes later the Algerian fluffed another chance when he controlled a cross from Mendy and beat Pyatov – only for Yaroslav Rakitskiy to clear off the line.
The only scares at the other end seemed to be of City's own making with slack passes by Nicolas Otamendi and Mahrez causing a couple of problems.
But the former Leicester man turned provider when his cross was met by Silva but his header struck the post and Jesus blazed the rebound wide.
Just when City fans were fearing it could be one of those nights, their stand-in skipper made the breakthrough just before the half hour.
Jesus saw his shot blocked but the ball looped up for Silva who blasted a low volley into the corner from the left hand side of the box.
Silva has one of the best CVs in Europe but has never won this competition – and seems to be on a crusade to put that right.
It was his late winner in Hoffenheim earlier this month which finally gave his team's Champions League campaign lift off.
This strike meant he is now joint second alongside Francis Lee with 10 in City's all-time European goal-scorers.
Five minutes later it was two as de Bruyne whipped a corner over from the left and Laporte got up highest to loop a header beyond Pyatov.
It had been a sensational 35 minutes from City – almost certainly their best performance of the season.
It could have got better still as Jesus curled an effort inches too high – but Shakhtar must have been relieved to only be two down at the break.
No English team has even scored two away here before – yet it could and should have been several more.
Their players seemed to be responding to his rallying call that everyone at the club must be united if they are to lift this trophy in the near future.
City came out for the second half in the mood to put the game to bed with Silva's goal-bound effort blocked by Rakitskiy.
Mahrez then almost scored a repeat of his curling left foot strike against Burnley on Saturday – but this time his radar was just off.
At the other end there was a reminder that the game was not yet over when left-back Ismaily finally forced Ederson into action.
But the best chances were still falling to City with Mahrez hitting the side netting after a lovely chip by Silva.
Both the Algerian and Jesus must have been kicking themselves that they had failed to score against this ordinary Shakhtar team.
Bernardo showed them how it should be done just seconds after replacing de Bruyne in the 69th minute.
The Portuguese has been superb in the absence of the Belgian and he showed his class once again with his first touch.
Bernardo strolled through the heart of the home defence – before rolling a left footed shot that bounced in off the post.
Guardiola is not sure how much the fans want to win this competition – but his players certainly do.
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