PEP GUARDIOLA SILENCE: MANAGER TERSE OVER RODRI AND DONNARUMMA ISSUES
Man City's Rodri is ruled out for the Fulham match with hamstring trouble; Guardiola gives terse answers on his return and dismisses concerns over Donnarumma's growing yellow card count.
It's still uncertain when Rodri, Manchester City's key midfielder, will be back on the field.
After missing a good chunk of last season with a knee injury, the Spain player hasn't had the easiest return. A hamstring issue has kept him to just one appearance, which was only a single minute. He's sat out of City’s last 10 games.
The 29-year-old is out for Tuesday’s Premier League game at Fulham and might miss Saturday’s home game against Sunderland, too.
When asked on Monday if Rodri would be ready, manager Pep Guardiola simply said, “No, not yet.”
And when asked about the weekend game, Guardiola responded, “I don’t know.”
Guardiola kept his chat with the broadcast media short during Monday’s press conference for the Fulham game, speaking for just over two minutes.
He briefly mentioned goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who picked up his fourth booking in his short time with City during the win over Leeds on Saturday.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke even accused Donnarumma of faking an injury so Guardiola could give the team a pep talk. Now, Donnarumma is just one yellow card away from being suspended.
“Yes, he has a lot of bookings. He has many,” admitted Guardiola. “It is what it is.”
When asked if he’d spoken to Donnarumma about it, he said, “No.”
Guardiola was more open when chatting with the written media later about his opposite number, Marco Silva, for Tuesday’s game.
Silva’s team is hosting City after a great win at Tottenham.
Guardiola said, “Marco has been there for many years, and it’s always tough and difficult when we play them.
“Their setup is great, and each year they get better with the ball. They are a tough opponent.
“I watched their games against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Sunderland.
“It’s always hard for teams to break them down. It's always been like that in their stadium in London.”
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.
Must Read
