Guardiola's Terry Venables tribute, Stones and Grealish fitness, fans and Leipzig UCL game
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00:00 Good afternoon, guys, hope you're well.
00:08 We'll take questions in English first, then in German after that.
00:15 Hi Pep, hope you're OK.
00:20 Before we look ahead to the game, there's a picture that's gone on social media
00:27 of you as a young boy looking up at Terry Venables.
00:31 Do you have any memories of Venables? What are your thoughts about him?
00:36 As a Barcelona fan, he gave us La Liga after 11 or 12 years.
00:44 His impact was incredible there.
00:49 He introduced something like I've never been before,
00:53 especially a certain type of pressing and the set-pieces, for example.
01:00 I remember how many goals Alex Sancho, former central defender,
01:03 captain for Barcelona, scored goals. He introduced many, many things.
01:08 A truly gentleman, but the people live with him.
01:12 I was a ball boy, so I was not in contact with him.
01:15 I just gave the ball to his players.
01:20 Unfortunately, I could not win the Champions League in that time,
01:24 in the final against Estela-Bucarest.
01:28 But of course, it's a big loss for English football,
01:32 a score for his family, for his wife.
01:36 But I read a lot these last 24 hours, how many players talk about him,
01:43 the national team of former players and people who live with him.
01:48 I was really impressed.
01:51 Big condolences, of course, to his family.
01:54 We think about him as being an England manager,
01:57 but it sounds from what you're saying as though he will be missed at Barcelona as well.
02:03 Absolutely. In that time I was 13 or 14 years old, 15 years old.
02:08 It was the first time I saw him win La Liga.
02:13 For many, many years it could not be possible,
02:16 because he was in Madrid, Real Sociedad, and the team.
02:20 So I let him go out.
02:23 The impact in that time was a short time,
02:27 it was two seasons, no more than that, two and a half.
02:31 It was not long, but the impact and the way they played.
02:35 I remember talking with friends of mine,
02:38 the players played with him, and the words were not just as a manager,
02:45 as a person so funny,
02:48 he was in programmes in Telecataluña, singing,
02:52 imitating Frank Sinatra and this kind of thing.
02:55 He was a proper, proper man.
02:58 I'm so sorry for his family, honestly.
03:01 Hi Pep. Two fairly simple ones for me.
03:06 Firstly, just a comment from you ahead of the game tomorrow,
03:09 City will unveil a tribute to legends who had their own European success,
03:14 Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerby.
03:17 Again, show how good this club is, make this tribute to the three legendary,
03:23 unbelievable persons.
03:26 I think Mike Summerby will be there,
03:30 he will be incredibly satisfied with the recognition,
03:34 not just for him, but for Colin Bell, Francis Lee,
03:39 so it will be perfect for all their families.
03:42 So, incredible, this tribute,
03:45 but how many clubs have these things and they don't do it,
03:49 and we are fortunate to do it for them.
03:52 And finally, from me, in terms of the game tomorrow,
03:56 I imagine you'll be going strong, given one point,
03:58 City top the group and you'll consider that quite important.
04:01 Yeah, we'll have to win, of course the first step is done,
04:05 for both sides, congratulations to Leipzig of course,
04:08 to qualify for the next round in February,
04:11 but of course it's important to finish first,
04:14 prestigious for everything, because we believe when we played the last 16,
04:18 to have the second leg at home is not decisive,
04:22 but it's a little bit advantageous and we have to take it.
04:28 Hi Pep, just back to Terry Venables,
04:31 just because of what you saw when you were a kid,
04:34 what kind of impact did he have, if any, on your own career in football?
04:39 I'm going to be honest, not much,
04:41 because at that moment I was 30, 40 years old,
04:43 I was not thinking I would get top,
04:47 play in Barcelona first, and not even for one second
04:51 think I would become a manager.
04:53 So, at that time I see the game,
04:55 I think "wow, they run a lot, how good they press,
04:58 the set-pieces are good, the transition,
05:00 it was a so physical team, and they change different shapes".
05:05 I just, "how funny is my club, Barcelona is winning games,
05:10 winning games, they're going to win the Liga".
05:12 I was not paying attention much at that time about his influence,
05:16 after I learned it, and when I saw yesterday Gary Neville talking about him,
05:20 or Gary Lineker, or all the players,
05:24 the manager of the national team, Gareth Southgate,
05:26 and all the people talking about him,
05:28 you realise that the impact was very, very important.
05:32 Can we take a check on the team news as well?
05:34 Is Jack Grealish going to be fit to play after illness?
05:37 Yes.
05:38 Kovacic, how do you rate his chances of maybe getting some minutes,
05:41 or being available at least for the weekend?
05:43 And Nunes as well, any update on how long?
05:46 We have training now, but we'll see this afternoon,
05:50 we'll do the second day of recovery,
05:53 we're not going to do absolutely anything.
05:56 I'm not much optimistic about some good news for some people to come back,
06:02 but we'll see, we'll see this afternoon.
06:06 I think we'll be the same people that we played against Liverpool.
06:09 Johnstone, do you still have to be careful?
06:11 Johnstone is getting better,
06:13 so it's not for play, but maybe a few minutes, maybe for the next one.
06:18 But he's really, really close to coming back,
06:20 it's incredible good news for us.
06:22 Next, Pat.
06:23 Hi, Pep.
06:25 Obviously the injuries at the start of the season,
06:28 you've been missing a lot of the players who give you the extra touch,
06:31 extra pass, the players give you a bit more control,
06:34 and it was similar at the weekend with Grealish being out as well,
06:37 and it means you're playing with a lot more direct players.
06:40 Obviously the results have still been really good,
06:43 the performances have still been good,
06:45 but how does it affect the style, does it have any impact on the way you play?
06:49 The style is when I reach the ball, Jeremy, one against one,
06:54 so the impact is his skills, his talent.
06:57 I don't think we were...
06:59 Yeah, for the quality for some players we can be more direct,
07:04 but with Kevin we were direct too, with Gundo we were direct too.
07:09 I would say, like you said, the result is quite similar, it's quite good,
07:12 so I think we're performing really, really well.
07:15 We have to continue, we are not top of the league,
07:18 but how we perform, I'm very, very pleased, really.
07:23 I would say if I don't like it, I would say, "OK, I'm not so satisfied",
07:27 or "I don't like it much", but I think we are playing good, in general.
07:31 So I think against Chelsea it was really good,
07:36 we couldn't see a lot of transitions because they were really good,
07:40 and first and second, our transitions, offensive and defensive, were really poor.
07:44 Our pressing was not effective, I didn't prepare well,
07:49 but we created a lot of chances, so we reviewed the game,
07:53 so we played, with all respect, good.
07:58 So, in general I'm pleased with the way we are playing.
08:03 You mentioned the defending there, I know against Liverpool they only had two real chances,
08:08 but there haven't been so many clean sheets this season,
08:12 and obviously last season you talked about the proper defending,
08:15 is there a particular reason for that?
08:17 I think the only game we conceded a lot of goals and chances was against Chelsea,
08:21 the rest is the same average as last season.
08:24 We won the Premier League and we arrived far, far in the competition,
08:30 but in general our average is like Liverpool,
08:33 we conceded two or three shooting targets, no more than that.
08:36 We lost against Walsh with one goal and one shooting target.
08:41 So in general our average is good.
08:44 The only exception is that I give credit to Chelsea, not just for our mistakes.
08:49 So the rest is quite similar to what we have done last season.
08:56 Pep, can I just check, is De Bruyne going to be in January, do you think?
09:00 He said this, I didn't know.
09:05 He said in January, he will be in January.
09:08 So you agree that it will be in January, there's probably no chance of the club welcoming him?
09:12 I would have loved to have him all season, but now we have tough injuries,
09:16 so we have to recover well, and he said end of December or happy new year,
09:22 so it will be a happy new year for everyone.
09:25 You would obviously want him on the pitch, and he wants to be on the pitch,
09:29 but the time off he spent, because he was shattered at the end of last season,
09:35 do you think he probably needed some time away from football?
09:39 I don't think so, I think he would prefer to be with us.
09:44 But yeah, football, a lot of years already, Kevin is not 21 years old anymore,
09:51 so the time runs, and unfortunately he had the injuries,
09:56 now he has to recover and make a step back again.
10:01 So recover well, prepare well, and prepare well when he comes back,
10:05 and expecting after one week he will be perfect.
10:09 So it will be a step, and time and time and time to get this,
10:13 but when you have him from the beginning on the bench, or ready to play,
10:19 it's a good weapon for us, so I'm going to discover the quality from Kevin.
10:24 Hi Pep, just on Josco Guardiola, potentially playing his old club tomorrow,
10:30 how would you assess what he's been like for you so far,
10:34 what have you liked and where do you think he can improve?
10:37 I just don't have more than incredible words to him,
10:44 first as how he's settled, because he's an incredible person,
10:49 like Mateu is in Mateu, all the guys this season, Oscar, Bob, arrived,
10:54 it's top, and maybe it's not easy from the beginning,
10:59 change the one league to the other one,
11:02 but when he plays he plays top of standard, highest standard level.
11:05 And sometimes I move, because sometimes Manu didn't play,
11:11 Ruben didn't play two or three games ago,
11:14 and him with Nathan, but it's so important,
11:18 Nathan cannot play every three days, we know that,
11:23 so it's important, and for example the game in Leipzig was unbelievable,
11:28 I reviewed the game yesterday, it was really good.
11:32 He sometimes played left-back for you, do you still see centre-backers long-term?
11:37 Yes, of course he can play in a centre-back,
11:42 but we make a build-up with three, he can play in the middle,
11:46 the position Ruben is playing, but have Nathan and Josko in the left side,
11:51 as a build-up, and the build-up position is like a centre-back,
11:56 the position on the pitch with three, with a centre-back is the same,
12:00 defending is more full, but we have the conditions,
12:03 because in the past I discovered him against Leipzig,
12:06 I didn't know him before, two or three years ago,
12:09 playing in full-back, and it was really good.
12:13 Hi Pep, as you evolve your team this season,
12:17 with new players like Docu, Gavardia and Nunes,
12:21 you can see how a newish team might be,
12:25 might that entice you beyond your current contract to stay longer at City,
12:29 refresh you and re-energise you?
12:32 Yeah, have energy.
12:34 I'm OK.
12:38 So you could stay longer beyond your current contract?
12:40 I'm not going to answer that, I don't know.
12:43 In football I say many times...
12:45 It's a possibility though, right?
12:46 Yeah, of course, I can leave tomorrow.
12:48 One year and a half is a lot of time in football.
12:51 I arrived here with a long hair, look what happened now.
12:56 It's eight years ago, look at that guy, I'm funny!
13:02 Eight years, so...
13:04 As a manager, is that the sort of thing you've learned about yourself,
13:08 that you need to see your team being refreshed?
13:12 Listen, I would have loved the team to have 100 points and stay eternally.
13:17 All the clubs happen, you know?
13:21 At times brands, and when one player arrives and accepts one position
13:27 after two or three years, then accepts that position.
13:30 When you have standards and status and players come from behind and push him
13:35 and after a drop a little bit he doesn't accept that position.
13:38 And that's why sometimes I stay, sometimes I move,
13:41 even for myself, for everyone.
13:43 It's normal, but of course having new players,
13:47 even for them it's fresh to listen to new things, for everyone.
13:51 But it's not, I would say, the main reason for the fact that
13:58 I can stay or I can leave.
14:00 You're in a position now, Pep, where more people want to come and watch your matches,
14:08 watch the Treble winners, more people want to come and see Erling Haal and play,
14:12 is that the next task for the club, to keep the atmosphere that has powered you to the Treble,
14:20 while accepting these new fans?
14:23 About the fans?
14:25 Yeah.
14:27 No, about the fans, the stadium is always full
14:30 and we have to play as best as possible and create as much as possible
14:36 to energise and make our people, you know, with us.
14:41 I have the feeling that the team is playing really good.
14:45 So I review a few times, a few moments, not all the game against Liverpool,
14:50 to take some clips for using for the game we're going to play tomorrow
14:56 and many things are doing really, really well against that team.
14:59 I said that after the press conference, I had the same feeling.
15:02 And these guys, what they have done, these players have done for many, many years,
15:09 we love doing it together, you know that?
15:13 There are the games last season in the semi-finals or the quarter-finals or important games,
15:17 even last season against Arsenal when we played for the Premier League and everything,
15:22 they were there, they were there like animals.
15:26 And we need it.
15:28 In my humble opinion, to be successful we need our fans.
15:32 But all the time, they're supportive.
15:35 Being here, that's why I thank you so much for coming, because without that it's impossible.
15:39 And after, together it's funnier, we are stronger.
15:43 And for them to be part of our game, because they are part of our game, is much better.
15:49 And for ourselves, to feel that they are there, we play better.
15:53 We play better.
15:55 People say, "No, it depends." Yeah, of course it depends.
15:57 But we have to do the first steps, the first gestures, we have to do it all the time.
16:01 But, yeah, tomorrow hopefully they can come and enjoy the game again.
16:08 Thank you, guys.
16:09 - Thank you, guys. - Q1, mate.
16:11 - You want a question? - No.
16:12 [INAUDIBLE]