Manchester City travel to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon was they look to bounce back from a Carabao Cup fourth round exit at the hands of Tottenham in midweek.
First-half goals from Timo Werner and Pape Sarr gave Manchester City plenty to do inside the opening exchanges before Matheus Nunes continue his rich vein of form with a goal before the half-time interval.
Unfortunately that is as far as City’s goalscoring exploits extended in North London as Pep Guardiola’s side sustained three additional injury concerns across the 90 minutes and in the warm-ups concerning Manuel Akanji, Savinho, and Josko Gvardiol.
Pep Guardiola was unable to offer too much of an insight as to how his Manchester City squad was looking on the injury front during the open section of his press conference on Friday, insisting that fans would have to wait until Saturday itself to find out.
During the embargoed section of his media address, Pep Guardiola was quizzed on the impending arrival of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, the club’s failure to replace Julian Alvarez in the transfer window, and Kevin De Bruyne’s ongoing recovery.
Speaking during the second-half of his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, here is every word from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola ahead of Saturday afternoon’s visit to Bournemouth!
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“Nope… I’ve said the same, so it is what it is, we’ll see what happens and travel with less recovery but I would say I am used to, we are used to playing these situations and circumstances, not maybe this extreme but in these situations.
“But the players are coming back, and some of them that were out today they trained really good, so maybe they can help us for a few minutes tomorrow. And at the end these are the circumstances right, right now but except Rodri unfortunately, the rest sooner or later they’re going to come back.”
On whether the players have surprised him with what they have already done this season
“I know what they are capable of. So they are extraordinary. I’m really pleased, what can I say? I’m really pleased for the way we’ve played, the game against Spurs in the last moments, fighting until the end to equalise and fighting to go through to continue. I’m really pleased!”
On Sporting’s players knowing Ruben Amorim is leaving making the game harder for Manchester City
“You have to ask him, the journalist from Portugal! Now he’s distracted, texting a message, so that’s why he’s not listening to you… So you ask him, and he will know the Sporting players. I expect the best! I expect the best!
“The best advice we can have is when you play an opponent, always the best performance, that’s for sure. I’m pretty sure they will do; it’s the Champions League against Man City, so… But you have to understand that my concern now is not on that.”
On whether the Club and himself discussed signing a back-up to Erling Haaland in the summer after Julian Alvarez’s exit to Atletico Madrid
“No, you don’t expect to have eight, nine, seven, or six, or seven, or eight injuries, or problems at the same time. When you have these injuries, always the squad is short. When everyone is fit and available, it happens.
“When we won four times in a row the Carabao Cup, like how serious always we have been, always it’s because in the first stage, second stage, third stage until I would say the semi-finals, always we play the guys that don’t play in the last games in the Premier League in that specific moment.
“Always they play, and if we go through and through and arrive in the semi-finals, OK, go for it! But when we don’t have players, listen there are many wars to fight, and in a season you have to choose which ones.
“And of course, against Spurs with Erling (Haaland) we are stronger, but we have a lot of problems right now and I am focussed on other things, so sometimes it is what it is. And the players behaved – I know the people judge on results, but I’m more than pleased for the way we played, for example in the last games, especially in the last game.”
On whether he has ever experienced an injury crisis like this elsewhere in his career as a player or manager
“In some years, yeah. I played in the semi-final of the Champions League in Bayern Munich with seven players, players, players out. So sometimes it happens! In the right, right moment, you have to be ready.
“When you win the treble, it’s because in the right moments, in the right moments we were there – all of the squad. Without that you can fight for one title, you can be there, but you cannot fight for more – it’s impossible! Literally impossible!
“Because human beings have a limit, because the rhythm is so high, the intensity, the opponents are so strong and when we are all together, WOW! We can compete with everyone in all competitions, but it’s not the case and in that moment, hopefully when we arrive now Premier League and Champions League and especially FA Cup, we can be with the players.
“But it is what it is, I’ve said since the first moment in the press conference, we are not the only ones this can happen to. We take care of them really well, we are incredibly taking care of ourselves, this is our target, and sometimes for no reasons, it happens.”
On how much he can push those who remain fit
“Here (in the head). They have been used to playing with some pain. You know when you are injured, and when the injury or the niggles can be dangerous. Apart from that, when that happens, today the modern football all players play with pain.
“All of them, or most of them, the regular players. There are moments when you are injured, and you are injured, it happens. When you are, ‘Wow, be careful in this part of the body, be careful’. But sometimes you are in problems, you have to play.
“Rafa Nadal played all his career with pain, and he played, and he had I don’t know how many Grand Slams. So you have to deal with that in modern football, otherwise you cannot sustain every three days in the top, top clubs.”
On whether he has always had players like this during his time at Manchester City – versatile, and able to adapt to situations
“We will adapt, we will adapt as well tomorrow and the next games, I’m pretty sure. We have an incredible group of players, the mentality, they are so strong in the tough moments being a step forward. So this is what we have to do this week.
“This week is so important! Before the international break and for the difficulty of the games away in the Premier League and Champions League and you have to do the rest before the international (break).”
On Kevin De Bruyne
“He’s getting better. He’s getting better, yeah. In the last two, three, four days, the doctor said to me he made a step forward in terms of pain.”
On how much players are being exceptionally careful in recovery from injuries with lay-offs being longer this season
“Yeah they have, definitely today it’s impossible to literally say 24 hours a day you have to think about it. 24 hours no, but 23 yeah. You have to be incredibly focussed in your body and in your job and the less distractions as possible and be focussed in there.
“In modern football, in the top clubs that play every three days, and especially after winning a lot, you have to be more, and more focussed on that. Otherwise, just thinking about what you have done and just a little bit less about what you have done in the past, you cannot sustain it.”
On whether players are being more careful
“It depends on the players. There are players that sustain, you know, ‘OK I’m ready’, and the other ones, for historical, there are players that don’t tell me and it’s human nature, so everyone is different to everyone, there are players that have more tendency to get niggles or problems and the others one it doesn’t matter what happens, they go, go, and go!
“It’s not because they were more or less, no. It’s nature that the players are more adaptable to sustain incredible amount of efforts daily, every day, more than other ones.”
On whether he has seen every member of Manchester City’s squad focussing 24 hours a day this season
“Yeah.”
On if he could re-evaluate working with small squads if he comes back as Manchester City manager next season or in another job, in case he gets many injured players
“Yeah, if next season I know that it will be seven or eight injuries, yeah I will say I want more players. If I know there will be no injuries, I don’t want it. I don’t like to see players… You know. All I have to do is work with them and say, ‘Guys 24 hours’. Sleep every single minute of your life thinking about your profession. It has to be like that.”
On whether he is motivated by the challenge of facing young managers who come into England and emerging across Europe, like Ruben Amorim
“Yeah, it’s not specific for the new manager at United. Unai Emery is here, (Andoni) Iraola is here, and many, many top managers. Every manager has their new challenge, new ideas, and of course I prove to myself.
“I said Jurgen (Klopp) because they were the rivals and it was many years, and how many times we faced Jurgen, or in that case Mikel (Arteta) in the last four, five years many, many times. And it’s normal that as much you play with them, or always they are there fighting with your team to be champions, it normal that at the end with other clubs to play two times maybe a season, no more, the rest is much more.
“But of course, I said I’m completely honest; I learnt a lot when I see the other managers, I learn a lot and the problems that they can create. After the games I say, ‘Oh god! They have done that, they created problems here, there.
“Next game against them we have to be careful of doing that’, and it makes you better. It’s simple to analyse, but it’s the truth! And of course, every manager, in that case the United manager it’s going to happen, for sure.”
On the “hangover” comments about the 2024 FA Cup final against Manchester United
“It was a joke, my friends, it was a joke. I said I’m so bad to make jokes, and you get it! Of course we were ready! They beat us fairly, but of course after we won the Premier League, we had to celebrate it!
“My guys are really good on the pitch, but off the pitch they are REALLY good, too! And they have to celebrate it! Otherwise, what sense? 11 months to win the Premier League and it was one, or two, or three days, but they trained really well on Thursday, Friday, two days before the final, and they were better – United deserved to win, we can analyse some episodes, but they deserved it!
“We congratulated them, and that’s all! I don’t make excuses because we were not ready, we were ready and they were better, that’s all… And that’s not a joke now!”
On whether it is difficult to know when to put youth players into the first-team squad
“No listen, when we have all the squad fit, and we have problems with a lot like we have today now, they don’t play and we play the guys who are fit. But the problem is we have not much players, and we have a lot that I don’t know.
“That’s why we have to do a bit of gambling if we can take a risk with this player, don’t take a risk, and that is the doubts that we have in this situation. We have players that can play maybe 20 minutes, no more than that.
“There are players that can start but maybe I don’t know what’s going to show, so we have a few now, this is a little bit of the problem we have right now but it is what it is. We try to be smart and talk with the players and see, because always the players say, ‘No, no listen I’m ready’, and there are other ones who say, ‘Pep, I don’t know’.
“OK, the decisions we make will be a lot with how the players feel. I’m not in the hamstring of the players, in the ankle of the players, I’m not there. They have to tell us! Most of the times. There are players who say, ‘It doesn’t matter, take a risk’, and the other ones who say, ‘No, Pep it’s better because if I am injured I will be seven weeks out or six weeks out’, and we say, ‘OK, don’t do that’.
“And now we are in this position. Like I said, with many, many teams today, there are a lot of teams with this situation, and it’s normal.”
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