PEP GUARDIOLA ADMITS HE "CANNOT REST" ERLING HAALAND DESPITE WORRYING FORM SLUMP
Erling Haaland has played more minutes than anyone at Man City. With Foden injured, Guardiola admits he has no choice but to play him.
Pep Guardiola says he can’t really rest Erling Haaland right now, even though the goals have stopped coming for his star striker. Haaland’s only found the net once in his last seven games—pretty wild considering he had scored 24 in his first 23 matches of the season. No one in the Manchester City squad has played more than him, either.
Haaland’s racked up 30 appearances so far, just behind Tijjani Reijnders, who’s played 31. But when you look at minutes, Haaland’s way ahead—he’s spent 2,480 minutes on the pitch, 239 more than anyone else. Only once did he start on the bench.
The thing is, City don’t have another true striker apart from Haaland. Guardiola would probably turn to Omar Marmoush, but he’s been away at the Africa Cup of Nations. And after missing a penalty in Egypt’s third-place shootout loss to Nigeria, Marmoush likely won’t make it back in time for City’s Champions League game at Bodo/Glimt.
“I don’t think so,” Guardiola said when asked about Marmoush returning. “We need Erling, and we need everyone. I don’t know when Omar will be back, so Erling will play. He’s huge for us. We’re lucky to have him, given everything he’s done.”
He didn’t sound too sure what would happen in the next match. “We’ll see how they recover—physically, mentally. I can sense how they’re feeling.”
On top of that, Phil Foden picked up what looks like a broken hand during the Manchester derby loss, so that’s another headache. City just brought in Antoine Semenyo for £62.5m to strengthen their attack, but he can’t play in the next two Champions League matches—Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray—because he’s not eligible.
Guardiola’s definitely looking forward to having Marmoush back. “Omar’s an exceptional player. But it wouldn’t be right to blame the missing results against United or anyone else on Omar not being here. That’s not fair to him or to the rest of the guys who show up every day and give everything.”
PEP GUARDIOLA ADMITS "IT’S DECIDED" TO STOP MANAGING AFTER MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola drops a retirement bombshell, confirming he will "stop" after Manchester City to focus on his health and life.
Pep Guardiola’s been dropping hints again that he might not just leave Manchester City soon but could actually walk away from football management altogether. Sure, his contract runs until 2027, but the talk just won’t die down. People keep saying he might pack his bags at the end of this season.
Every time he faces the press, he brushes it off. It doesn't matter; the city's already looking at who comes next. Since December, they’ve been making plans, and word is, they’ve even thought about bringing in his old assistant, Enzo Maresca, to take over if Pep steps down.
There’s also talk about him moving upstairs into some kind of executive role. After all, he’s done it all: Barcelona, Bayern, and now City. Maybe he’d rather shape things from behind the scenes.
Rumours keep swirling, especially now, as City gears up for that big Champions League showdown with Real Madrid. Pep’s latest comments just poured more fuel on the fire. When TNT Sports asked if he’d miss these huge matches after he retires, he didn’t exactly sound like someone planning to stick around forever.
He said, “Of course I’ll miss these games. I really love it here; I like coming back. People in Madrid probably don’t expect it, but I have a lot of respect for them; they’ve done so much for football.
“Yeah, I’ll miss it, but I’ll also miss going to Camp Nou; I’ll miss Bayern Munich. Hopefully, we get through, and I can go back there, and I’ll miss it when I stop. These nights are special.
“I’ll even miss Selhurst Park. I love it. The Premier League and these stadiums. I don’t know, I’ll miss the Champions League, but also places like Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Goodison Park; these grounds are a big reason why I love England and the Premier League. And the FA Cup! Playing against League One teams… I really like it! But one day, it’ll all be over, right?”
Pep’s already taken a break before; after Barcelona, he disappeared for a year before showing up at Bayern. Last summer, he was pretty open about what comes next. He basically said another break is coming once he leaves City.
He put it like this: “After this time with City, I’m going to stop. That’s for sure. It’s decided, more than decided.
“I don’t know for how long – maybe a year, maybe two, three, five, ten, fifteen; I have no idea. But I’ll stop when I leave City because I need to focus on myself, my body, you know…
'In Catalan, we say "badar".' Badar, badar, badar… I want to do that, just stop and watch the cows go by as the train passes. My grandfather used to say, ‘You look at me the way cows watch the train go by.’ That’s it. Sometimes you just need to stop and watch life go past.”
HAALAND WATCH: ERLING HAALAND FACES A LATE FITNESS TEST BEFORE NOTTINGHAM FOREST CLASH
Erling Haaland is "feeling better!" Read Pep Guardiola’s injury update, the Forest lineup news, and the Real Madrid prep here.
Erling Haaland is feeling a lot better now, but he still needs to get checked after Manchester City’s training on Tuesday before they decide if he can face Nottingham Forest. He missed the Leeds game because he picked up a small knock in training last Thursday, and right after that match, Pep Guardiola didn’t have any updates on Haaland’s fitness.
Even though Haaland’s still not a sure thing for the Forest game, City are pretty hopeful he’ll be back after getting the weekend off. The same goes for Nico O’Reilly. He limped off with an ankle issue during the 1-0 win over Leeds, but he managed to join the recovery session on Sunday.
“Erling feels much better, but we didn’t train yesterday. We’ll see how he is in training today and then make a call,” Guardiola said at his Tuesday press conference.
The city handled things well without Haaland up front. Antoine Semenyo got the only goal, playing alongside Omar Marmoush. Guardiola didn’t seem too stressed before kickoff, either. “He had some problems and a little injury two days ago in training. Nothing serious, but he wasn’t ready today,” Pep said at Elland Road.
Other than that, City’s injury list isn’t too worrying as they keep chasing trophies. Jeremy Doku was back in the squad at Leeds for the first time since his injury, and Savinho came on in the second half, his first appearance since New Year’s Day.
Right now, only Mateo Kovačić and Josko Gvardiol are still out, but Guardiola’s positive about Kovačić since he’s started training again.
“It’s March, and we’re still in all the competitions. That’s special,” Guardiola said. “Last season, we were already out of the Champions League and FA Cup at this point. Now, it’s Newcastle in the FA Cup on Saturday, then two games with Real Madrid. Win, and you keep going; lose, and you’re out. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
City are looking to cut the gap to Arsenal on Wednesday night. Both play at the same time. City hosts Forest while Arsenal heads to Brighton, who just beat Forest. There are five points between them, but Arsenal have played an extra game.
After Forest, City have two big away matches: Newcastle in the FA Cup, then Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16. Haaland has already scored at the Bernabeu, but oddly enough, he hasn’t managed a goal against Newcastle in four tries this season.
