PEP GUARDIOLA SIGNALS MAN CITY ATTACK NEEDS BEYOND HAALAND GOALS
Pep Guardiola warns Man City cannot rely solely on Erling Haaland for goals after his double beat Everton. While praising Phil Foden's "fine wine" development, he urged other attackers to step up and share the scoring burden.
Following Manchester City's 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday, Pep Guardiola expressed that his team should not depend solely on their star striker, Erling Haaland, for all their goals.
Haaland's double at the Etihad Stadium catapulted City to the top of the Premier League, but just hours later, Arsenal reclaimed that position after the Norway international scored in 11 consecutive matches for both club and country.
Guardiola noted that Haaland could have netted even more and lamented the ongoing situation where he is currently the sole goal-scorer for City.
When asked about his concerns regarding the lack of goal contributions from the rest of the squad, Guardiola replied, "Absolutely." “In the end, Erling could have easily scored four or five goals.
"What can I say, our key player? However, we cannot rely on him alone. Not just Erling, but all of us want to perform well. Other players, including the attacking midfielders and wingers, need to step up.
"They need to find the back of the net because the chances we create are so clear. Tijjani [Reijnders], Jeremy [Doku], and Savinho all had opportunities. They must capitalise on those.
Guardiola: Foden improves over time, much like fine wine.
Another standout performer was Phil Foden, who demonstrated a renewed attacking threat and creativity. The midfielder has faced challenges on and off the field, but his display on Saturday was remarkably sharp.
Two years ago, Foden enjoyed his most successful season as a City player, earning the titles of Premier League Player of the Season as well as the PFA and FWA Player of the Year.
"Like a quality wine, he will improve with age," Guardiola remarked, likening the 25-year-old to wine despite some recent difficulties, his exhilarating performances in the Club World Cup before this season, and a shift in mindset.
"[He is] maturing and improving overall," the Spaniard added. He is performing well, smiling, enjoying himself, and exhibiting great body language during training.
He consistently creates opportunities with his movements. The rest of the team was solid, but the first half proved more challenging as we struggled to identify who was open.
"Phil can play and make runs like he used to, as we all remember." Although we didn’t reach our peak last season, Phil has always been remarkable. Always.
"It's not possible to be in sixth gear all the time. We must manage the tempo. He will eventually refine his game and become less explosive consistently. Effort and rhythm are necessary; gradually, he will improve.
"My players will sleep in the form they had in the Champions League."
Even without Haaland, Guardiola's team has improved significantly in recent game weeks, and Saturday's outcome was City's eighth game without a loss since back-to-back losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the season.
After having seven shots on goal and more than 71 per cent of the possession, the Catalans concluded that their victory was well-earned after a quick review.
It gives City a lot of momentum going into their Champions League away match against Villarreal and their later-week trip to Aston Villa.
Guardiola remarked, "Of course they had chances [too], because we threw away a couple of balls." They excel at long balls and second balls, and David Moyes' teams are undoubtedly among the best.
Overall, it was well-earned. We created a lot of opportunities, particularly after the score of 1-0. The influence of Rayan Cherki, Oscar [Bobb], and Bernardo [Silva], the lads from the bench. They possess a unique talent.
Kova [Mateo Kovacic] and Rico [Lewis] as well. After ten days, we have another win, so it is safe to start over. This always occurs in the first 20 minutes following the international break.
"We are not fully in our current dynamic. We achieved a positive outcome with a victory over Brentford, but we then found it difficult to recover.
"We will sleep in the Champions League places this weekend, and the game was good overall, particularly in the second half. That is excellent.
MANCHESTER CITY CONDEMN RACIST ABUSE OF STARS SEMENYO AND GUEHI
Following swift stadium action, Manchester City pledge full support to Semenyo and Guéhi amid shocking discriminatory abuse.
Manchester City didn’t hold back after Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi faced racist abuse during and after their wild 3-3 draw with Everton. The game itself was a rollercoaster; City managed to scrape a point thanks to Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, who nailed a jaw-dropping equaliser in the 96th minute.
Doku actually got City off to a great start, putting them up before halftime. But Everton flipped the script after the break, scoring three and having everyone on edge with ten minutes left. City defender Guehi made a costly error on Everton’s first goal, his misjudged back pass handing the ball to Thierno Barry, who didn’t think twice about putting it away.
Since then, City put out a statement confirming that Guehi was targeted with disgusting racist messages online, while Semenyo, who played most of the match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, endured abuse in the stadium itself. City’s statement was straightforward: they’re outraged by the abuse and thanked Everton and the police for acting fast to identify the person responsible. They made it clear they're sticking by Guehi and Semenyo and won’t tolerate discrimination in football.
Right after the game, Guehi posted on social media, owning up to his mistake but keeping his head up. He thanked City fans and leaned on his faith, writing, “I need to do better, but we keep going & focused on the next. Thank you for your support as always! Thank you, Jesus!”
Racism in football keeps getting worse, on and off the pitch, and there’s a growing call for authorities to actually step up and fight discriminatory abuse wherever it shows up.
Both Guehi and Semenyo have made an immediate impact at City. Guehi came from Crystal Palace in January for £20 million, fitting right into Guardiola’s defence and looking sharp until Monday’s mishap. He’s already played 16 times for City. Semenyo arrived from Bournemouth for £64 million, has 22 appearances, and has made himself a regular threat, scoring eight goals with three assists, moving smoothly between central and wide positions.
They’re both expected to be in the lineup when City faces Brentford at home on Saturday as Guardiola’s team hangs onto their faint hopes of defending the title.
PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO GUARANTEE RODRI’S RETURN FOR MONDAY’S PREMIER LEAGUE CLASH
Pep Guardiola provides the latest injury news on Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of a crucial title race clash at Everton.
Pep Guardiola has shared the latest on Manchester City's injury situation ahead of Monday’s Premier League match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
City is in good form right now. They came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, making it six wins in a row across all competitions.
But they’ve had to do it without Rodri. He's missed their last two matches, including a tight 1-0 win at Burnley, after hurting his groin against Arsenal a couple of weeks back. Guardiola recently told reporters that Rodri is getting better, but the team’s been cautious and isn’t rushing him back.
At his latest press conference on Friday, Guardiola said Rodri still hasn’t returned to training, so they’re just taking it day by day. There's hope, but Guardiola wouldn’t give any guarantees about Rodri’s chances of playing against Everton. "He’s getting better. Still, he didn't train with us, so we’ll see in the next few days,” he said. When pressed about his confidence, Pep just replied, “I am always confident.”
With Rodri still not training, it sounds like a last-minute decision on whether he’ll play. A start against Everton seems unlikely. That probably means Nico González, who scored the winner against Southampton, will keep his spot in midfield next to Bernardo Silva. Maybe Nico O’Reilly slides into central midfield, too, if he isn’t covering at left-back.
It’s not all good news in defence either. Ruben Dias is still out with the ankle injury that’s kept him sidelined for the last six games, and Josko Gvardiol is recovering from the tibial fracture he picked up in January. Both are working their way back, and Guardiola says they’re improving, but there’s no sign of a return just yet.
Turning to the Everton game, City could head into it trailing Arsenal by six points if the Gunners beat Fulham on Saturday. With the title race this tight, City can’t afford to slip up.
Guardiola knows Monday will be tough. “Everton have always been tough,” he said. “Old Everton was so cool and so British, and I loved to go there, but in the new stadium, they are defending really well, and it has always been tough." He’s not taking recent Everton results lightly, adding, 'They're fighting for a place in Europe. We won with two or three actions here, but we were not good at that moment. We can’t have any result but win, win, win.”
Everton won’t be easy, especially away, but City can at least take confidence from their strong record of 17 league games unbeaten against the Toffees. They won the reverse fixture 2-0, with Haaland scoring both goals. Still, Guardiola isn’t expecting it to be straightforward.
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