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Tag: Pep Guardiola

  • Manchester City trio face fitness tests ahead of Stoke City trip

    Manchester City’s Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph are recovering well from their injuries and face fitness tests, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

    The Spaniard said the tests are to determine if they will be available for Monday’s English Premier League game at Stoke City.

    Midfielder Fernandinho has not featured since injuring his hamstring in City’s 3-0 English League Cup final victory over Arsenal last month.

    Forward Sterling is also coming back from a similar problem and last played in the league in the 5-1 win over Leicester.

    Delph was suspended for three games after his dismissal in the 1-0 English FA Cup fifth round loss at Wigan Athletic last month.

    He missed Wednesday’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg defeat by Swiss side Basel with a muscle injury.

    “Some of them are better. Fernandinho and Sterling are much better. Fabian Delph is like this, like that (uncertain),” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

    “We have training sessions to decide before the game. Today, the players are off, so I don’t exactly know the situation.”

    Leaders Manchester City have 78 points with nine games left and need four wins to wrap up their first league title under Guardiola.

    They also have a chance to become the first team to break the 100-points barrier in the history of the English top-flight.

    “I know everyone wants to anticipate the situations, when we will win the title. The best example is two days ago, we lost against Basel,” said Guardiola.

    His side reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a 5-2 aggregate victory over the Swiss club.

    “Just be relaxed, be calm and focus on Stoke.”

    Paul Lambert’s relegation-threatened Stoke City are 19th in the table with 27 points.

    They suffered their heaviest defeat of the current campaign at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season when they were beaten 7-2 by Manchester City.

  • Pep Guardiola accepts FA charge for wearing yellow ribbon

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has accepted a Football Association charge over “wearing a political message, specifically a yellow ribbon”.

    Guardiola had until 18:00 GMT today to respond to a charge of breaching the FA’s kit and advertising regulations.

    In November, Guardiola said he wears the ribbon to support imprisoned politicians in his native Catalonia.

    The FA spoke to the City boss about the situation in December and had previously issued two formal warnings.

    Action was taken though when he wore it pitchside – he is free to wear it elsewhere – during City’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Wigan on 19 February.

    Two key members of the Catalan independence movement, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez, were held without bail after an independence vote in October, which the Spanish government deemed illegal.

    Guardiola said in November: “If one day in prison was already too much, look how many days they’ve been there now.

    “Like everybody knows, hopefully sooner or later I can stop wearing it.

    “All the politicians that are in prison, I hope they can leave and go back home soon with their families and continue living the lives they deserve.”

     

    BBC

  • I learned how to play football again under Guardiola – Thierry Henry

    Thierry Henry says his perspective on football altered when he played under Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola during his three-year spell at Barcelona.

    The Frenchman joined the La Liga giants from Arsenal in the summer of 2007 and, despite a barren first campaign at the Nou Camp, played a key role as Barca became the first Spanish side to complete a domestic and European treble in 2008/09.

    Prior to his move, Henry, 40, had also played for AS Monaco and Juventus and soon became France’s top scorer of all-time with 51 goals, but, speaking on Saturday morning, he admitted the Spaniard changed his outlook on the game.

    “I learned how to play football again at 30 years old,” he told presenter Soccer AM presenter Jimmy Bullard.

    “After what I had achieved at club level, Arsenal, Monaco, Juve – even if it was only for a short period – but also at international level, I suddenly saw the game in a different way – understanding space, understanding staying in your position, understanding you have to give 100 per cent at everything.

    “Even when we used to pause to drink in training, you had to run, drink, run back to the drill – his attention to detail is second to none.”

    Henry provided an insight into the tactical thoughts of Guardiola, pointing out how he could employ a slight positional change that could have a huge effect on a game.

    “He’s actually too clever sometimes, that’s why he gets in trouble because he sees many things that he wants to rectify and change. He would change a tactic sometimes five times in one half.

    “If you stand between the right-back and the right centre-back and Samuel Eto’o or me does the same on the other side, suddenly you hold four players alone. With Samuel Eto’o and me running in behind and Xavi and Iniesta on the ball out wide, Messi is dropping, so either you die or you die.

    “Just from you being high and wide, and then coming back in, you are actually freezing four players because we are threatening to go in behind. There were so many things.”

    To simplify the idea further, Henry gave an amusing analogy.

    He added: “It’s like if I said to you, ‘Meet me in London’ and I don’t give you the address, just meet me in London. If you are clever, you might find me. But Pep gives you the GPS, the address, the car and everything.”

     

    Sky Sport

  • Guardiola brands Chelsea manager, Conte a ‘master tactician’

    Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is a “master” tactician and will leave his mark on English football, according to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

    The Italian adopted a 5-3-2 formation to guide Chelsea to the Premier League title in his first season in charge.

    But the Blues are 22 points adrift of leaders City this term and the two sides meet at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

    “I think Conte is going to leave something to English football. I am sure of that,” said Guardiola.

    Conte saw his side beaten heavily 3-0 by rivals Arsenal in September 2016, after which the former Juventus and Italy boss changed his system from a 4-5-1 to playing with three centre-backs and two wing-backs.

    It allowed Chelsea to go on a club-record run of 13 consecutive victories,which laid the platform for their fifth Premier League triumph.

    This campaign has been a difficult one, though, with the Blues in fifth place and constant speculation surrounding Conte’s future at Stamford Bridge.

    Guardiola said: “What Antonio has done here in the Premier League, maybe the people don’t realise.

    “He introduced another way to attack with five at the back, another system. A lot of teams, even Arsenal, had to do a lot of imitating to do that.

    “Tactically, he is a master. He did it amazingly with the national team with Italy and when he went to Turin.”

     

    BBC

  • Pep Guardiola charged by the FA for wearing yellow ribbon in support of Catalonian

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been charged by the Football Association for “wearing a political message, specifically a yellow ribbon”.

    The FA said in a statement the yellow ribbon worn by the former Barcelona boss on his jacket in support of imprisoned Catalan politicians was in breach of its kit and advertising regulations.

    The FA said in a statement he has until 6pm on Monday, March 5, 2018 to respond to the charge.

    The 47-year-old, who was born in the Catalan town of Santpedor and spent the best part of 20 years at Barcelona as player and coach, has previously explained his reasons for wearing the ribbon, which he has sported since at least November.

    Speaking in December, he said: “I do that because in Spain two specific people who defend something like the vote, something the people in command do not agree [with], are in prison. It’s unfair.

    “To make a rebellion on something like that, you have to be something tough to be in prison. And they are still there. So, while they are not out, always here [points to ribbon] will be shared with me.

    “Because, OK, they can suspend me for doing that, but the other people are in jail.

    “If they want to suspend me – UEFA, Premier League, FIFA – it’s OK.”

    Guardiola was specifically referring to politicians who were imprisoned for their involvement in the Catalonia independence referendum, which was declared illegal by Spain, in October.

    The City boss explained his stance in response to comments from Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, who questioned whether the ribbon was within the rules and claimed he would not be allowed to do a similar thing.

     

  • UCL: Guardiola hails Manchester City’s win over Basel as an ‘amazing result’

    Pep Guardiola hailed an “amazing result” after Manchester City beat Basel 4-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

    City raced into a three-goal lead inside 24 minutes thanks to strikes from Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero.

    Gundogan scored again after half-time to put City in a commanding position ahead of the return leg at the Etihad on March 7.

    “The Champions League is 180 minutes, but we are almost there,” said City boss Guardiola. “I’m not saying it’s done, because in football anything can happen, but it’s an amazing result.”We could have been 2-0 down but then we were 0-2 up. We were clinical and I am delighted with the performance.

    “We kept our level, we fought hard and created chances to score. They were four amazing goals. Overall I’m delighted.”

    Guardiola also paid tribute to Gundogan, who might even have claimed a hat-trick had Tomas Vaclik not saved from him in the closing stages.

    “He’s a guy with special qualities,” said Guardiola. “He’s amazing with a good sense of the goal.

    “When I see him play I realise how we missed him last season. He is a special player with a lot of personality. He doesn’t feel pressure, he’s a top player.”

    The emphatic nature of the victory means Guardiola may be able to rest players in the second leg but he is not looking that far ahead yet.First City face Wigan in the FA Cup and Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, with tricky league games against the Gunners and Chelsea also coming before the Basel return fixture.

    Guardiola said: “That’s so important but we have to be focused and it’s after Chelsea. It’s so important to focus on them and take another step in the Premier League.

    “Vinny (Kompany) is back, Fabian (Delph) is back – a lot of players have come back from long-term injuries. That’s good for everyone and (Gabriel) Jesus and (Benjamin) Mendy are coming back. We’ll have almost the whole squad for this period when we will need everyone involved.”

    Basel coach Raphael Wicky admitted his side were outplayed by a ruthless City side.

    Wicky said: “They were very clinical, scoring three goals in the first half. We started well, we created chances and managed to win balls but, as I said yesterday, we needed a perfect night. We needed to take the opportunities and be
    clinical. But we conceded goals too easily and after we went 3-0 down I think the game was decided.”

  • Pep Guardiola: Man City boss faces no action over Nathan Redmond confrontation

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will face no Football Association action over his heated post-match discussion with Southampton’s Nathan Redmond.

    Guardiola approached the Saints winger after Raheem Sterling had scored a late winner for the Premier League leaders at Etihad Stadium on 29 November.

    The FA accepted the Spaniard’s explanation of the incident but reminded him of his responsibilities.

    Redmond, 23, has said Guardiola was “very complimentary” towards him.

    The Spaniard appeared to shout and wave his arms, while Redmond covered his mouth and seemed to respond.

    “He commented on my qualities as a young English player and how he wanted me to attack his team more during the game in a similar way to last season,” Redmond later said.

    “I told him I was doing what my manager had asked me to do in the game. That’s it.”

    Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola said on Friday: “I cannot control myself. I have to do that, hopefully I can improve.”

    BBC Sports

  • Lose title to Chelsea again, get fired – City Warns Manager, Pep Guardiola

    Manchester City management has said they would not tolerate another trophy-drought season with Pep Guardiola as wouldn’t afford to lose the league title again to Chelsea.

    Guardiola took over as the coach of the team last summer but failed to win a trophy -the first time in his coaching career.

    However, the team’s Oasis frontman, Liam Gallagher, said winning the Premier League trophy; any other title, is “absolutely necessary” for the former Bayern coach to keep his job at the Etihad.

    “It is absolutely necessary to win the title next season, we cannot leave it to Chelsea again. If we don’t win anything then he won’t be able to stay,” Gallagher told French football magazine So Foot. “We have gone beyond that stage. We have to win the title and we must do well in the Champions League.”

    Gallagher also faulted the Catalan’s decision on the goalkeeper, Joe Hart, saying he should have kept him in the team.

    “Pep,” Gallagher said, “made a mistake in getting rid of Joe Hart so soon. He shot himself in the foot.”

    City have thus far signed Portugal international midfielder, Bernardo Silva and Brazilian goalkeeper, Ederson as they prepare for the next football season.