Guardiola unconcerned by records as he believes City and Haaland are better than last season
Guardiola unconcerned by records as he believes City and Haaland are better than last season
Transcript
00:00 Tomorrow it will be 22 consecutive home wins, that's the most since 1892, which is quite a long time.
00:08 What do you put that down to? Has something clicked recently at home over the last 12 months?
00:14 Better than thinking about these milestones, it happens, it happens.
00:17 Try to do what you have to do to win the game.
00:20 I didn't know it and I'm not going to tell the players.
00:23 Normally when you say the players, we forget the focus.
00:26 The focus is on Bournemouth and what you have to do to beat them.
00:30 You've got a run of home games now, though, and when you've had a run like that it must give you so much confidence.
00:36 At that point you're right, we feel comfortable for a long time at home.
00:41 You're right.
00:43 We have our people, we have our own momentum.
00:47 I saw the team today really, really sharp in the training.
00:50 I saw everyone is in the good... Sharp is the right word to use.
00:58 We're going to...
01:01 Since Brighton we have won all the games, we have three games before the international break.
01:07 We have an important week ahead of us, and it starts tomorrow.
01:11 Simon?
01:12 You had a long chat with Erling when you came off the pitch on Sunday at Old Trafford.
01:19 Roy Keane said it was all for show, he thought.
01:25 You often have these long chats with players when you come off, why is that?
01:29 I respect Roy Keane a lot.
01:35 Sometimes I finish the game I go inside, sometimes I stay there, sometimes I talk.
01:41 When I find a player we make a chat about the game, we talk about...
01:45 I know the cameras are everywhere when you are there, but I could tell him inside.
01:49 The moment I was outside I wanted to see our fans, I like to be especially away for the fans.
01:55 United is an important game.
01:57 We contacted the second goal he scored in the midst of the last minute,
02:00 it was an unannounced action, he could do better, and he seemed to be stronger.
02:06 Header, you know, strong, he just put the ball in the net with more power or whatever.
02:12 It just was the comment.
02:14 It happened with Erling in Burley.
02:19 I can avoid it, honestly.
02:21 Maybe Roy is right, but it happens when it happens.
02:25 I don't need to do something for the people at my age already.
02:29 Sometimes I go inside, sometimes I say hi, sometimes I say hi to the referee,
02:33 sometimes I don't, sometimes...
02:35 It's what I feel at the moment.
02:38 I'm thinking, after the game I'm going to go to the players to do some spectacle for the people.
02:44 I'm old enough already.
02:46 It feels like Erling in particular likes to get things off his chest straight away as well,
02:51 though I see one of the players who likes to talk about things as soon as the game is finished.
02:56 Especially when you win a game, and after you have talked about what happened in the game.
02:59 I've done it all my career, I've done it in Bayern Munich, with Kimmich sometimes, or in Barcelona.
03:04 In that period we didn't go much, it was not a tradition to go to the managers after the game to be on the pitch.
03:10 Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.
03:13 It depends on the moment, sometimes we are in a way, and the other way.
03:17 But not to make feel how special we are.
03:22 Away from that.
03:30 Pep, I think last season Erling had a month off because of the World Cup,
03:34 he was one of the few players who had a nice break in the middle there.
03:38 You're using him a lot, he's playing a lot of minutes, is that something you're conscious of?
03:42 Are you going to have to look at finding a time during the season?
03:45 Because he lasted the whole season really well last year.
03:48 Are you going to have to manage his minutes and maybe find a break for him somewhere in there?
03:52 Yeah, it's so important for us.
03:56 He feels really fit now, for the fact that he simply had some needle problems in the past,
04:02 especially when he came from Dortmund.
04:05 Now it's completely the opposite, he feels free of problems.
04:11 Today I saw him training with incredible energy.
04:18 I didn't think it was going to happen in Marseille or Lille.
04:25 We tried to win the Emselrubb and Marseille pre-Namee.
04:28 We've been contenders for the competition we're playing.
04:33 We see if he goes down, he's tired, he will take a rest.
04:37 He will give a rest.
04:39 But now he's feeling good.
04:43 For us, having him on the pitch gives us a lot of confidence
04:46 and he's an incredible threat for the opponents.
04:48 I was going to ask that.
04:50 His goal record is obviously as good as last season almost,
04:53 but how do you assess his overall form, the stuff we don't see?
04:56 How do you think he's playing?
04:58 In the beginning he struggled because he was three weeks off, disconnected,
05:03 the first time he played a lot of minutes, won a lot of titles.
05:07 But I see him score a lot of goals so far,
05:10 and in every game have a lot of chances to score more.
05:15 He's so incredible and special and a lovely player for us,
05:20 so that's why we use him a lot.
05:23 Hi Pat.
05:24 Andoni Iraiola worked under Marcelo Bielsa at Athletic Club de Bilbao.
05:29 Obviously he was a big influence on you, Iraiola was a big influence on him.
05:32 Do you find it especially interesting coming up against these coaches
05:34 and see how they've interpreted what Bielsa has taught them
05:37 and where they've taken it from there?
05:38 Yeah, maybe some patterns they have sometimes.
05:41 There are games that look like they are known,
05:43 they change sometimes.
05:45 I'm pretty sure.
05:47 You are a football player and you are involved with important managers
05:50 like Marcelo Bielsa, the influence is there.
05:52 It's impossible not to be there.
05:54 The greatest managers, and Marcelo is one of the greatest ever,
05:58 so the influence is with the players, that's for sure.
06:01 Is it copy-paste? I'm pretty sure not.
06:04 In the end, Andoni Iraiola has his own ideas and battalion details,
06:07 I'm pretty sure.
06:09 Is it quite interesting where he takes his own ideas,
06:11 that they are slightly different and they move the game forward,
06:14 as you have done?
06:15 Yeah, with intensity, they make incredible high pressing,
06:18 sometimes a little bit more zonal, sometimes they follow more man-marking.
06:21 Yeah, of course, they have some ideas, but the fact is there.
06:26 Yeah.
06:28 Just going back to what Simon was saying about the Roy Keane comments
06:32 on Sky at the weekend,
06:34 what do you make of people constantly analysing your body language
06:38 and what you do?
06:40 Because it's been a theme throughout your eight years here,
06:44 the pundits have passed comment on your body language and what you do.
06:48 Not just me, I think today the comments are there,
06:53 we have to make a programme,
06:56 but I think they analyse everyone else, because it's me.
07:00 I don't take it personally, honestly,
07:02 so I respect a lot all the pundits and what they say.
07:06 What I say, I didn't overreact or did something for the people.
07:11 We were happy, we have to admit it.
07:13 I was, really, especially for the way we played,
07:16 that made me confident, the results help to be confident,
07:19 especially the way we played.
07:21 We feel we are in a good way, in a good path.
07:23 I like it, after we review the game, we analyse the players,
07:26 what we have done good and the reason why we are able to play good
07:29 for that reason, that reason and that reason.
07:32 I was really happy in the moment I found Erling,
07:35 we made a comment there and he didn't make a feedback about that comment,
07:40 I make another comment, I make another comment, we were working.
07:44 I could have been sad, of course, I've done it many times.
07:47 When I say hi in the locker room, "Oh, look at that image, look at that action",
07:51 but I think it's fresh, the players have that image in the moment,
07:54 and sometimes you make that input, it remains here or here,
07:58 strongly, that maybe we had two days off afterwards,
08:02 and after three days, "Oh, you remember, oh, yeah, yeah".
08:05 It's forgetting, it's the next time.
08:07 It sometimes happens when I'm there, but sometimes it doesn't happen
08:10 because I go inside.
08:12 You were talking about the performance on Sunday,
08:16 you said it was a really good performance.
08:18 Were you expecting that?
08:20 And how have the performances, in your view, fluctuated this year?
08:24 Have they been a little bit up and down, or do you think it's been quite level?
08:28 My point of view?
08:32 Not now, but in the first five or six games of the league,
08:35 our level was higher than last season, in that period, my point of view.
08:39 I'm not talking about points.
08:41 In general, with Mateu inside, Mateu's inside, and Jeremy,
08:45 they understand what happened, because when it was Gundo or Real,
08:48 they know everything already.
08:50 So you have to say, not bad, they know some movements perfectly.
08:55 So I was really pleased.
08:59 Yeah, Wolves was the game I had, pity, you know,
09:02 they had two shoots on target, one deflection, and it's a pity.
09:06 In Arsenal we didn't play quite well, credit for Arsenal,
09:10 because it's an exceptional team, but in general, Champions League, for example,
09:14 half-time against Red Star was 0-1 down, but we played really good.
09:18 And I said to them, against West Ham we were losing, I think so,
09:21 I said, "We are playing really good."
09:23 And the results, Champions League, we are one game away to qualify,
09:27 next Tuesday we are able to do it, and in Premier League we are there.
09:31 We could be there 10 points ahead of the second,
09:34 but that is a fanta-culture, a fantasy, so it's not the reality.
09:38 So in general I'm satisfied, especially when I see them every day,
09:42 how they compete, they play, they want to get better.
09:45 I said, "OK, still we are not in hangover period,
09:49 what happened last season is completely the opposite,
09:51 still we are focused.
09:53 That means they are going 2-2 tomorrow, I don't know,
09:55 but what has happened, we have to be proud,
09:58 because the opponents all play, and if Tottenham is at home,
10:01 they deserve it.
10:02 So by the end, when I said 28 games to play,
10:04 a lot of things are going to happen, so game by game.
10:07 Today we play, try to win today and we will see what happens.
10:11 You said about the treble, the level of performances
10:14 and the application in training, has there been any surprise
10:17 from your perspective?
10:19 I was curious, I was expecting, but it would be unfair
10:25 to say I didn't expect it, what they have done for six years.
10:31 Maybe if it was mine, that is the reality.
10:34 The moment they have to be, they are.
10:37 So the moment they are in the Champions League,
10:39 or Old Trafford, or Newcastle, after playing in Athens,
10:45 less recovery, still we are not in the best moment,
10:48 and play the way we play against Newcastle.
10:50 I think the mentality of the team is still... I like it.
10:56 Hello Pep.
10:59 Erling Haaland has been a little bit...
11:03 made some critical remarks to people and media
11:07 after he called one Norwegian news site for clowns,
11:13 after they focused on his bust-up with the Brighton defender
11:17 a couple of weeks ago.
11:19 Does the writing and the headlines get a little bit more
11:22 into his head than we might think?
11:26 Honestly, I didn't get your question.
11:29 You have to repeat. Highlights, what the people say about Erling?
11:33 I'll try another one.
11:35 No, no. No, try, try.
11:38 There have been some headlines focusing on his bust-up
11:41 with the Brighton defender after the Brighton game.
11:44 Argument. Yes, part of the game.
11:47 And he called a Norwegian news site for clowns.
11:51 Do you think these headlines and so gets a little bit more
11:54 into his head than we think?
11:56 He's fine, honestly.
11:58 Sometimes you need this, you know?
12:00 All the time they have two central defenders that are fighting for him,
12:04 and he has to defend himself, be careful to not get sent off,
12:08 but it's normal.
12:10 So you have to feel that contact, connections, and he has it.
12:15 He's really fine.
12:17 Erling is... If he's good, he's in a good mood.
12:21 Yeah, he's fine.
12:23 Oscar, Bob probably had a dream month of his life here in City in September.
12:28 How do you consider his situation now regarding competition and so on?
12:33 I see him every day in training sessions and we are really pleased.
12:37 Of course the competition is high here because every player has a high level,
12:41 but this time he's in the first team training every day,
12:44 he's with us, and try to continue like that, learn and be positive.
12:50 So no doubt.
12:52 At the end, the minutes I will give to him and his performance
12:56 will dictate his own future.
12:58 But in my perspective as a manager, I'm really, really, really pleased
13:03 since day one I've done with us.
13:08 Thank you.
13:11 (Applause)
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