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Tag: Man City

  • World-class Foden no longer little Phil – Guardiola

    World-class Foden no longer little Phil – Guardiola

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says England forward Phil Foden is now a world-class performer in his own right.

    Gifted as he is, Foden has often been overshadowed by Manchester City’s big hitters but Guardiola noted after Saturday’s win at Bournemouth that he had grown into a top player.

    Foden’s ninth league goal of the season secured the unconvincing 1-0 win that pushed champions City to one point behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.

    With Erling Haaland not back to his best after injury and playmaker Kevin de Bruyne used as a late substitute on Saturday, Foden was the spark that kept City’s bandwagon firmly on track for a fourth successive title.

    The 23-year-old Foden has also contributed seven assists this season and has stepped up to be one of Manchester City’s leaders on the pitch.

    “Forget about the goals – of course they are important – but do you know how he played?

    “How he controlled and accelerated. He has become already a top-class football player. From a little boy, now he has become already Phil, a world class, top player.

    “He’s so good. He can play everywhere, especially in the central position and play really, really good,” Guardiola told reporters.

    City are now 11 games unbeaten in the league and while Liverpool and Arsenal are right with them in the title race, Guardiola’s side are showing again the ability to churn out results at the business end of the season.

    They beat Brentford 1-0 in midweek and Guardiola said his squad’s durability still surprised him.

    “What can I say?, The calendar is so demanding and the expectations are so high. What they have done for many years with a lot of games and many things.

    “And always you believe they will fall down and won’t continue to do it – they surprise me,” he said.

  • Haaland hits brace to send Man City top of EPL

    Haaland hits brace to send Man City top of EPL

    Erling Haaland scored his first goals since November to help Manchester City see off a determined Everton side in a 2-0  win and move top of the Premier League.

    The Norwegian has had to wait to find the net since his return from the foot injury that sidelined him for most of December and January, but he made up for lost time here.

    His first goal was a brilliant first-time finish that gave his side a crucial breakthrough in the second half, and he made sure of the three points when he ran clear to slot past Jordan Pickford late on.

    Until then, Everton’s organisation and resilience had frustrated the defending champions, who had not managed a shot on target until Haaland struck with 19 minutes to go.

    The visitors failed to clear a corner and the ball fell for Haaland at the back post to smash home a fierce first-time strike that Jordan Pickford got a hand to, but could not keep out.

    Haaland was not done there, and made the most of the space Everton left pushing for an equaliser when he galloped on to Kevin de Bruyne’s through-ball, held off Jarrad Branthwaite and found the bottom corner of the net.

    City’s time in top spot may be limited – Liverpool can reclaim their place at the summit later on Saturday when they host Burnley at Anfield – but their return to the head of the table for the first time since 24 November is a reward for their impressive form.

    This was their 10th successive win in all competitions, including the Fifa Club World Cup and FA Cup, and their sixth in a row in the Premier League.

    Everton, meanwhile, remain stuck in the relegation zone and have now gone seven league games without a win.

    BBC

  • I enjoy watching Man City – Cristiano Ronaldo

    I enjoy watching Man City – Cristiano Ronaldo

    Al Nassr striker Cristiano Ronaldo admits he’s a fan of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

    The Portuguese made the comments at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai.

    Asked about City’s Treble, Ronaldo said: “Manchester City did amazing. Congratulations on their season. Players, coach. Superb.”

    The 38-year-old added: “Finally they win the Champions League, they probably deserved it two years ago. I enjoy seeing them playing.”

    Ronaldo was linked with City when leaving Juventus before eventually signing for United for a second time.

  • De Bruyne a special player, a legend – Guardiola

    De Bruyne a special player, a legend – Guardiola

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola declared Kevin de Bruyne a “legend” after their 3-2 win at Newcastle.

    De Bruyne scored once and laid on the injury-time winner for City.

    “He’s a special player, he’s a legend who is so beloved for our people,” said Guardiola.

    “He’s fresh in his mind because five months is a long time and in the second half of the season he can help us to be there until the end.

    “He needs to have a bit more freedom and space and to be able to move to where his nose or gut is telling him at that moment to create some passes.

    “When Kevin has the ball, we need runners like Oscar as he did today, Phil and Erling. His goal was fantastic.

    “I had the feeling that he wasn’t ready for 90 minutes because he’s been out – everyone was saying, ‘OK, he can play, he can play’ – we hoped he could come on when we had control of the game like Huddersfield last week for the last 20-25 minutes because how many times last season did he arrive at the by-line and provide the crosses?”

  • Pep Guardiola gives update on Haaland return

    Pep Guardiola gives update on Haaland return

    Manchester City striker Erling Haaland isn’t likely to make the pitch again until February.

    Haaland remains sidelined with a foot injury.

    “It’s the bone. It needs time,” Guardiola said. “With every injury you can do whatever you want but it’s a question of time.

    “It’s fine but the doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi.

    “Hopefully at the end of this month he’ll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning.”

    Guardiola added: “We need him.

    “Hopefully he can come back and play the last four or five months without a problem.”

  • Why Pep Guardiola will never coach Spain

    Why Pep Guardiola will never coach Spain

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will never consider taking the Spain job.

    That’s according to his biographer, Marti Perarnau, who has just published his third book on the former Barcelona coach.

    “I don’t think due to sporting reasons (he would choose not to coach in Spain), but social reasons, yes,” Peranau told Marca, referring to Guardiola’s Catalan activism. “Because political reasons within football would make little sense.

    “You don’t manage a team because of politics, that is, because you are favourable to this or that person’s policy. I think I would rule it out more for social reasons.

    “There is an obvious rejection, there is a very significant part of the Spanish people who think differently than Pep and, therefore, there is a rejection, but it is social. I don’t think it’s political.”

    He also said: “I also don’t think it would enter the mind of the Spanish Federation to have him, but for the same reason.

    “It would be provoking an unnecessary conflict, neither one side nor the other wants that.

    “Why are you going to get into that mess? That’s how I see it.”

  • EPL: Crystal Palace will be tough – Guardiola

    EPL: Crystal Palace will be tough – Guardiola

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says there’ll be no underestimating Crystal Palace today.

    City face Palace ahead of traveling to Riyadh for the Club World Cup.

    Guardiola said: “Always they have been tough games, so it will be a tough game.

    “How they defend is brilliant, they don’t need much. Set pieces with [Joachim] Andersen and the other guys, it will be a tough game.

    “It always has been, I don’t remember easy games against Roy Hodgson’s teams, Patrick Vieira neither but especially with Roy.

    “The teams are really good, they play incredibly well against Liverpool and unfortunately a player was sent off.

    “[When you have] 10 against 11 it’s almost impossible but 11 v 11 I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  • Important to leave my comfort zone – Gundogan on City exit

    Important to leave my comfort zone – Gundogan on City exit

    Ilkay Gundogan insists he has no regrets joining Barcelona.

    The former Manchester City captain has been critical of his teammates at times this season.

    But he told Die Welt: “From a sporting point of view, things are going well, but we still need to improve in many aspects. That’s why they bought me. The coach told me to pass on my experience to the boys. Even if everything doesn’t work perfectly yet due to the language, I can convey certain things to my young teammates just with my behavior.

    “Barcelona trusts La Masía players. There are also foreigners like me who provide stability. The club has recently lost personalities, such as Lionel Messi, who marked an era. Success will not come overnight, it is a process always in collaboration with the fans.

    “It’s a completely new challenge. After seven years at Manchester City with Pep Guardiola, I thought it was important to get out of my comfort zone again. Not only on a football level, but also on a personal level.”

  • Man City clash always super exciting – Klopp

    Man City clash always super exciting – Klopp

    Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp insists their trip to Manchester City won’t be decisive.

    However, Klopp believes they can win on Saturday.

    He said, “I don’t know before the game. So look, a lot of things can happen. We play bad and lose. Possible. We play bad and win, I would say it’s unlikely. It’s pretty much not possible against City. We play very good and don’t win, it’s possible. That’s football. We play very good and win… they all would happen to exactly the same team.

    “This team does not have to pass a test now or something like this, the direction we are going is really the right one. That is obvious. We are not perfect, we saw that. OK it was international break, but the game before the last Premier League game was Toulouse and we were not good there. I made a lot of changes so it is my responsibility but it was still not good. Against Luton, we were not good. Got a point, all fine, could have won the game – but if we had won the game, we were [still] not good that night.

    “But in a lot of games so far this season we were good and deserved what we got in the different situations. So, with 10 men, we were outstanding for a team one man down. With nine men, we were exceptional with two men down. These kind of things were all us, but they are nothing to do with the next game. Of course we play that game [tomorrow], but it’s not a test of how close can we get to City.

    “It is just really a super-exciting football game, one of them I would watch wherever I am on the planet. I would. Why wouldn’t you watch this game? It has everything there you need. For us, it is not about being excited – that kind of excitement like, ‘Oh my God, can’t wait!’ – we have to prepare properly and we know we have to be at our best to have a chance. If we have that, it is about us to take it. We will see.”

  • I should’ve joined Man City sooner – Kovacic

    I should’ve joined Man City sooner – Kovacic

    Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic admits he wishes he had joined Manchester City sooner.

    The pass master swapped Chelsea and London for City and Manchester, choosing to work under Pep Guardiola.

    Kovacic believes that he could have won even more trophies if he had signed for Guardiola’s team earlier in his career.

    “It’s amazing and tough because I’m learning a lot of new things and I would have loved to come at an earlier age to learn,” said Kovacic, while on international duty.

    “But it’s never too late to learn. I think like that. So I’m happy I can learn from him and what he tells you.

    “I would’ve loved someone to have told me a few years ago. But yeah, now I can still learn and you can really tell he is fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed it from the first moment. It was tough the first few days to understand what he wants – ‘don’t move there, go there’.

    “So I like to run a lot on the pitch sometimes – ‘go there, go there’. But he told me, ‘Be more calm, don’t run too much’. So it was like a little bit of surprise for me as well and it’s nice. The club you can tell from the first day is amazing. The people are great, and the city is also nice.”