Pep Guardiola’s ‘Happy Flowers’ outburst began only after Manchester City overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Tottenham 4-2 in January. We might not have known his actual feelings if they had lost or drew.

It turned out to be the most important three points of the season, as Guardiola’s remarkable attack on his own team proved to be a turning point on the route to winning the triple. Fast forward to this weekend’s match against Tottenham, and there are parallels between City’s form and that of January’s Etihad battle.

City isn’t playing horribly, but they can do better. They are not at the top of the Premier League, and some of their players are out of form.

They’ve established a little worrying habit of allowing needless goals, especially from straight balls on the break. They trailed RB Leipzig 2-0 at halftime on Tuesday in the Champions League and have trailed on other occasions this season.

Indeed, there is a sense that City have yet to really gel this season and have the potential to go up a gear or two – but that is not surprising. If anything, it’s consistent with recent campaigns in which the period from August to Christmas has been less steady than when the winning streaks begin in December and into the New Year.

Guardiola complained in January that no one protected adolescent Rico Lewis when Spurs subjected him to brutal treatment. He blamed City fans for being as complacent as the player and advised the club that if they wanted to compete for titles, they needed to adjust their mentality.

City’s team spirit means Lewis will be protected this season, while the fans were ‘like beasts’ en route to the treble last season, according to the manager. The Etihad has become much louder since Spurs’ last visit, and even if Pep Guardiola thought City were lucky on Tuesday, there was no panic in the dressing room when they fell behind 2-0.

So Guardiola doesn’t need to reprise his attention-grabbing outburst this weekend (unless anything goes horribly wrong), because he is clearly on the same page as his players, staff, and supporters. Winning the treble helps a lot, but Guardiola will also realize that there is still potential for improvement this season if they want to try to duplicate that feat.

Welcoming Tottenham to the Etihad could be a good indicator of where his team is at. And it might be another watershed moment for the second season in a row.