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.
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.
MANCHESTER CITY’S REQUEST TO RESCHEDULE PIVOTAL PREMIER LEAGUE TIES BRUTALLY DENIED
The Premier League has rejected Man City’s plea to swap Palace and Bournemouth matches. See City's brutal end-of-season schedule.
Manchester City are on the hunt for another domestic treble just seven years after the last one. Pep Guardiola pulled it off in 2018/19 with wins in the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. Now he's got his sights set on doing it again.
City’s deep run in the cups has created a mess for their league schedule. Their home game against Crystal Palace, which was supposed to happen during the Carabao Cup final weekend on March 22, got bumped. Same thing with their trip to Bournemouth, originally set for the day after the FA Cup final.
There’s a hold-up with rescheduling Palace; the Eagles’ Conference League semi-final run means they’ve got barely any free midweek dates. The match was pencilled in for Wednesday, May 13, but things got complicated when City reached the FA Cup Final, and Bournemouth got postponed too. The city asked the Premier League if they could play Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 12, then face Palace a week later, to squeeze in an extra recovery day before the Wembley showdown. Plus, that would give them the bonus of finishing their last two league games at home. But the Premier League usually insists that the fixture that was originally scheduled first in this case, Palace, gets played first.
According to The Mirror, City’s request was shot down. So now Guardiola’s team has to cram their last four matches into just 12 days: Palace visits on May 13, then the FA Cup Final, Bournemouth away on May 19, and finally wrapping things up at home to Aston Villa on May 24.
They couldn't play Bournemouth on May 20 because that’s the Europa League final night, and UEFA didn’t want any Premier League games stealing the spotlight when Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest could be involved.
The Mirror says the revised fixture dates and kick-off times are coming out today. Chelsea, also FA Cup finalists, will play their rescheduled match against Tottenham on May 19.
City still has to travel to Everton next Monday and host Brentford on Saturday, May 9. Then comes their jam-packed finish, starting with Palace.
Meanwhile, title rivals Arsenal will be hoping City’s crowded schedule works in their favour. Though Arsenal has its own challenge, a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid is spread across the next two midweeks.
Arsenal closes out its league campaign with home games against Fulham and Burnley and trips to West Ham and Palace.
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