Guardiola looking for City reaction at Wolves after cup exit (Full Presser)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola looking for City reaction at Wolves after League Cup exit
Transcript
00:00 Good afternoon, guys, hope you're well.
00:06 Same process as ever, mics on either side,
00:08 just indicate to us whether you'd like to ask a question,
00:10 we'll set an embargo part way through to 10.30 this evening.
00:13 Start with Ian, please.
00:14 Hi, Pat. Obviously, Rodri is missing for this game,
00:19 can you tell us who else might be missing from your squad, please?
00:21 The other players?
00:23 Who else might be missing, yeah?
00:25 We have trained this afternoon, but I think...
00:29 Jon is not ready, Kevin is not ready,
00:33 I think the rest is fine.
00:35 Bernardo Silva is OK, then?
00:36 Bernardo Silva is not OK.
00:38 So, I don't know, maybe someone else, but now I don't have in my mind.
00:44 Anyone else you may have forgotten?
00:46 No, I don't think so, but maybe it can happen.
00:49 On Jon, did you expect him to be back by now?
00:51 He's better, much better.
00:53 I spoke with him, he feels really good training alone,
00:56 but maybe, I don't know, today, Friday, maybe next week,
01:01 or after Leipzig, maybe we'll restart.
01:04 Are you going to miss him even more without Rodri as well?
01:07 Because obviously that position he was playing towards the end of last season...
01:09 It's what it is, it's what it is.
01:11 I have a tendency as a football player, as a manager,
01:13 that it's a pity, but if you are not, you are not.
01:17 So we have to find a solution, we are not here to complain,
01:21 the players want to come back, want to be ready, want to be with us,
01:23 but when football happens, injuries are injuries,
01:26 they have to recover, with our people, to be ready as quickly as possible.
01:31 What do you expect from your team against Wolves,
01:33 given the result the other night and the disappointment around that?
01:36 Our disappointment? The game was really good.
01:42 So the people see that the three of us don't care about the cup,
01:45 saying that is like making a statement that when you win four times in a row,
01:50 whatever a team has done before, you have to merely respect what they have done.
01:54 They played really good in the first half, they increased their rhythm,
01:57 because they could not accept the game in the second half like it happened in the first half.
02:03 And it's football, you win games, you lose games.
02:07 We were disappointed the night, the day after, but today...
02:13 focus on the next one.
02:15 Thank you.
02:16 Hi, Pep. Just when you're talking about changing the rhythm on Wednesday night against Newcastle,
02:22 part of those changes in the second half was bringing Jeremy Doku on.
02:26 A lot has been made on social media this week about Jack Grealish versus Jeremy Doku,
02:32 how one might move the other one out of the squad,
02:34 and I just wanted to see how you view those two players.
02:37 Well, Jeremy can play in red as well, so...
02:41 Who's going to play more? Who's going to perform better?
02:45 Are they in direct competition with each other?
02:48 Are they in direct competition with each other, or do you see it more like...
02:52 Yeah, Phil Foden can play in the left too.
02:55 And he competes with Phil Foden as well.
02:58 The guy who performs well, he fits better,
03:00 and the other one has more chances to play.
03:03 It's always been like that.
03:04 Jeremy's just had over a month here now, I think,
03:08 the same with Matis Nunez, Kovacic, Vardyol,
03:10 how have you viewed their first month, six weeks or so?
03:13 More than impressed with the new ones.
03:15 All of them, the level they're playing at is a high, high level. All of them.
03:19 Because a lot of the time it's said that players need a season to get used to you,
03:23 and some of your strategies, but they're hitting the ground pretty quickly.
03:26 Some of them, the other one, they can click quickly.
03:29 Finally, Wolves, everyone will see this possibly as an easy game for Manchester City,
03:35 but what have you made to their start of the season?
03:36 Yeah, normally all the games we play are easy.
03:39 Yeah, it's happened.
03:41 So, we don't win the Premier League for ten points in front in November,
03:45 it's a disaster.
03:47 So, I know exactly what it is.
03:49 With great respect, always we struggle in Wolves,
03:52 and when you see the quality individually that they have,
03:57 especially up front with Neto, with Kunya, with the Korean guy,
04:02 they are really, really good.
04:03 I mean, as a top player, the full-backs, they are offensively,
04:07 and the manager, O'Neill, that made an incredible job last season in Bournemouth,
04:10 and I had the feeling they would do it too.
04:12 So, the result didn't maybe get back,
04:15 but the game against Brighton, they lost 1-4 in the first half,
04:19 the chances they missed, against Liverpool in the first half...
04:23 They have chances to score more goals than one,
04:26 so it's a team that the quality is there.
04:28 We struggle always in Wolves, but hopefully we can respond,
04:31 and we did three games before the international break.
04:34 Mark?
04:35 Hi, Pep, you mentioned when players aren't available,
04:38 it's about finding solutions to not having them.
04:40 Is Rodri one of the more difficult players to find a solution for when he is absent?
04:45 Well, just for the fact of how many minutes are played,
04:49 the consistency and many, many things, of course it's not easy to replace,
04:52 but he's out, we are going to find another quality,
04:56 another skill that Rodri maybe hasn't,
05:02 we are going to use it for the benefit of the team.
05:05 When a player is missing, he presents opportunities for players and for coaches,
05:08 does it give you a chance to try different things,
05:10 to see what other players can offer them?
05:12 No, we are going to try to do similar things we have done in the season's years,
05:18 and I would say it was not bad.
05:20 What did you make of Calvin's contribution in midweek,
05:23 and how close is he to your thoughts for this weekend?
05:26 I have a chance like the other ones.
05:28 I have a chance like the other ones, yeah.
05:31 Do you sense this as an opportunity for him?
05:32 You spoke recently about the fact he's not quite adapted as much,
05:35 you could have found it a little bit difficult,
05:37 does this have to be a big opportunity for him?
05:38 He's part of the group, he's making contributions,
05:42 playing not regularly but less than a day,
05:45 and I don't have any complaints about that,
05:49 so sometimes we are looking for something specific for some positions,
05:53 like some players have an adaptive type of skills,
05:57 when the game is a little bit...
05:58 Calvin is a perfect one,
06:03 when the game has to be everything in the details,
06:06 maybe struggle a little bit more,
06:07 but the game when Newcastle was a tough game,
06:12 he was already there, his physicality,
06:15 he helped us a lot to win against Nottingham Forest,
06:18 so he sustained a 2-0,
06:20 when we played the second half,
06:21 so, yeah, he has specific qualities,
06:24 at some moments we will need him.
06:25 If there's nothing else, go ahead.
06:29 We've got the embargo for 10.30 this evening,
06:31 somewhere to start, please.