Guardiola on management pressures, Haaland return, Walker and Burnley preview (Full Presser)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on management pressures, Haaland return and Burnley preview
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00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:22 [Can I ask about Erling Haaland's availability for this game? Is he fit to be available for it?]
00:30 Yeah, apparently he will be selected. For the first time he's back.
00:34 [How much of a boost is that for the club and the team to have Erling back then?]
00:38 Well, we have all the squad, we are stronger, definitely. And Erling is an important player for us, definitely.
00:43 I've been two months out, a long time, but he feels good.
00:48 We have to train this afternoon, but apparently tomorrow he will be with all of us.
00:53 [We've obviously seen with Kevin De Bruyne that you've had to be very careful with managing his minutes in recent weeks.
00:58 Will you have to do the same with Erling, or is this a different style?]
01:01 Well, one, he was muscular for the surgery and he was stressed for the bone, so it's a completely different approach.
01:07 But, yeah, of course, one eye, step by step.
01:11 [Can I ask about Vincent Kompany as well? I know you've spoken a lot about him in the past when you've faced Burnley,
01:16 but what have you made of the season that he's had in the Premier League so far as a manager?]
01:23 I have a lot of respect for Bini and who he's doing.
01:32 I know what he's trying to do. Sometimes the results go well or bad, but the team is alive.
01:38 He played really good, a stone's throw away against FA Cup, against Spurs.
01:43 The results are all tied and we have to be careful.
01:47 We have to prepare as best as possible for the last training session before tomorrow.
01:52 [Thank you.]
01:53 [Pep, could I just ask you about Kyle Walker and the interview that he gave?]
02:01 No, I'm not going to talk about that.
02:03 [Not at all?]
02:04 Not at all.
02:05 [Will it have any impact at all on whether he's captain of the team?]
02:08 No, I'm not going to talk about that.
02:10 I support him and Nene and his family and I don't talk one word about personal issues for the players.
02:16 [Will he remain your captain?]
02:18 Absolutely, because it's a decision for the team, not mine.
02:21 [Just in terms of the way that your team is playing, and it seems to have got into some good form,
02:31 is this the point in the season when you think you can really put some pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool
02:38 and the teams that are going to battle for it?]
02:40 It's one game at a time.
02:41 Always when we've met in the past, it's because we were thinking and our thoughts,
02:46 it was just one game at a time.
02:48 It's just Burnley, Burnley and Burnley.
02:50 The rest I don't care what they have done in the past.
02:53 The most important news, like in the very light, is the fact that we are almost all squad fit.
03:01 I would say we don't have injuries.
03:04 Emmanuel is back, yesterday he trained really well, didn't feel problems about his knee, and John as well.
03:11 That is the best news for the important part of the season.
03:14 Our start right now, of course, with the FA Cup we had, the Premier League,
03:19 and the Champions League around the corner, it's important to have everyone.
03:23 [Hi Pep, obviously within a few days we had two big announcements,
03:29 in football first Klopp and then Xavi, and even though for different reasons,
03:34 there is a debate about energy levels demanded by football from managers,
03:39 especially long-term managers.
03:42 Do you think that the structure of football at City, in a way,
03:46 saves you a bit of energy to focus on football?]
03:50 We cannot compare the pressure we have in England and in Spain, from my experience.
03:56 [Why?]
03:59 It's a thousand times higher and tougher there than here.
04:04 Here, for the managers, is a real place to be.
04:08 Of course, a lot of games, six press conferences a week, every three days game is a lot,
04:15 but the pressure you feel in Barcelona is not comparable for another club.
04:20 [Do you feel any sympathy towards Xavi?]
04:23 Yeah, of course, I understand completely.
04:27 [Hi Pep, have you spoken to Xavi since he announced his news?]
04:33 [No.]
04:34 [I wonder, when you left Barcelona, you obviously took that sabbatical,
04:38 I just wonder why was that so important to you,
04:41 and what did it do for you that time away from the game in New York?]
04:45 It was good, to be in the family, do something I've not done,
04:49 after two or three months I signed a contract for Bayern Munich,
04:53 so I didn't relax much, I expect, but yeah, it was good.
04:58 So we took a decision, and yeah, it's a long time ago already,
05:02 I forgot, maybe my feelings are in that moment.
05:05 [And yet here, you've obviously been here longer than anywhere else,
05:09 you spoke, I think last week you joked about maybe extending your contract again,
05:13 what is it about this place and this role that enables you to have that continued energy?]
05:18 I've said many times, I have everything that a manager could dream of,
05:22 I have everything.
05:24 The hierarchy supports me, and we've changed a lot of players in seven years,
05:29 but all of them have been incredible, supportive, good environment,
05:35 so I have everything.
05:38 Still, I feel good, and of course one day it's going to finish,
05:44 but I don't think about that right now.
05:49 - [Man] You got a bottle? No?