MANCHESTER: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola framed Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds United as a must-focus, must-respond moment amid a widening gap to leaders Arsenal in the table.
Leading with a message of urgency, Guardiola said the priority is to lock in on the next 90 minutes rather than the bigger picture — but he did not shy away from the reality of the title race.
“I’ve always had experience to talk about the next game and then after that we will see,” Guardiola said on Friday. “I know the distance is already there and Arsenal is so strong, we see it game by game they are getting better and better as a team.”
City, third in the table, trail Arsenal by seven points after 12 games, and are a point behind second-placed Chelsea. Leeds are in the relegation zone in 18th.
Guardiola’s men will be looking to reassert themselves after recent setbacks — a 2-1 league defeat at Newcastle and a 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
In their defeat to Newcastle, the manager said his players had played “to not make mistakes, not to do something and that is so difficult.”
“In football you have to play, in defense you have to try and if you lose in your actions you did it; they played to be safe,” he said.
On the back of the Leverkusen defeat, he also suggested his players were lacking confidence.
“I had a lot of confidence in them and I still do,” Guardiola said. “I put huge value as to what they are as football players.
“Maybe I think higher of them than they think about themselves. It was a good lesson for me, as experienced as I am as a manager it was a good lesson for me for the future.”
Guardiola made 10 changes to his team against Leverkusen on Tuesday and it backfired in a big way. City’s league-leading scorer Erling Haaland was a second-half substitute but could not provide any late-game heroics.
Guardiola on Friday downplayed his reliance on the 25-year-old Norwegian, who has 14 goals in the league this season. No other City player has more than one.
“Not the main concern but in general the last game, we did many good things in the game, in defense and of course Erling is massively important but others are as well,” he said.
City and Spain midfielder Rodri remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, but Guardiola said he is “not far” from returning.
Guardiola seeks Manchester City rebound as Arsenal extend lead
https://arab.news/b95za
Guardiola seeks Manchester City rebound as Arsenal extend lead
- Leading with a message of urgency, Guardiola said the priority is to lock in on the next 90 minutes
- “I’ve always had experience to talk about the next game and then after that we will see“
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
