REVEALED: THE SECRET SHORT-PASSING METRICS THAT CONVINCED PEP GUARDIOLA TO SIGN GIGIO DONNARUMMA
Guardiola hails Donnarumma’s passing as City chase Arsenal. See the stats behind the Ederson swap and why Pep trusts his No. 1.
Pep Guardiola’s not having any of the criticism about Gianluigi Donnarumma’s passing. The Manchester City boss has praised his new goalkeeper’s calmness, control, and especially his short passing. According to Guardiola, people don’t give the 26-year-old enough credit for how good he is with the ball at his feet. Sure, he admits Donnarumma isn’t Ederson when it comes to launching those long passes—but then again, who is?
A lot of people doubted if Guardiola would actually sign Donnarumma, since the Italian’s distribution had been questioned, and City’s style is built around keepers who can play out from the back. But City went for it anyway, paying £26 million after Donnarumma became surplus to requirements at PSG—even though he’d just helped Luis Enrique’s team win their first Champions League. PSG moved on to Lucas Chevalier, who cost them €40 million, mainly because of his superior passing.
The city made room for Donnarumma by selling Ederson to Fenerbahce for £10 million. Ederson’s known as one of the best passing goalkeepers in the world, so swapping him for Donnarumma was always going to raise some eyebrows. Guardiola has always wanted keepers to be comfortable with the ball—remember when he replaced Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo as soon as he arrived? But now, Guardiola’s made it clear: he thinks Donnarumma deserves more respect.
Before City’s FA Cup game against Exeter City, Guardiola said, “Donnarumma’s really, really good with short passes. He can’t hit the long ones like Ederson, but honestly, nobody can. Gigio’s calm, his first touch is solid, and his decision-making and short passing are way better than people think.”
Comparing stats from last season, Ederson was on the ball a lot more—averaging 31.7 passes per 90 minutes, compared to Donnarumma’s 23. 4. Ederson also played more long balls (9.4 versus 6 per game), and with better accuracy (almost 58% to Donnarumma’s 45%). Since coming to City, Donnarumma hasn’t been as involved in build-up play—he averages 25.5 passes a game—but he’s reminded everyone he’s still one of the best old-school shot-stoppers, with a 71.7% save rate in the Premier League.
Guardiola clearly trusts Donnarumma, even if people still talk about his discipline and passing. The Spaniard avoided criticising him after four yellow cards in his first ten games and even stepped in to calm things down when Donnarumma got involved in a scuffle during the 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
City needs Donnarumma to be at his best if they’re going to keep up with Arsenal, who are six points ahead in the title race. With some big league matches coming up, Donnarumma’s getting a rest for the FA Cup third round against Exeter—James Trafford steps in for that one. But make no mistake, Guardiola’s got faith in his new number one.
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.
Must Read
