Guardiola dismisses claims FFP charges will effect City form in Autumn
23/08/2024
CGA, Manchester City Academy, Manchester, UK
23/08/2024
CGA, Manchester City Academy, Manchester, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00You're a human being, your players are human beings,
00:02all the people at the club are human beings,
00:04so in that context, with the charges against the club about to be heard this autumn,
00:10is it something you've had to address with your players to try and keep it out of their minds?
00:13Because as I say, as human beings, they may be wondering how this could affect the club and their standing,
00:20so have you felt the need or will you feel the need to speak to them about this and say,
00:23look, just forget about them?
00:25To talk about?
00:26The charges against the club which are going to be heard this autumn.
00:29Oh, charges, yeah.
00:32Yeah, I'm eager and happy to start soon and hopefully finish soon,
00:36for the benefit for all of us, especially for the club,
00:39but for all the other Premier League clubs,
00:41like for all the people that don't wait the sentence.
00:46So I wish, I wish with the tip of my heart and go to the trail,
00:51the independent panel, and I said again, independent panel,
00:55and as soon as possible, release what happened,
00:59and we will accept like always we have done.
01:02Are you concerned it could affect your players' performances?
01:04Well, we are in three or four years talking about that.
01:06But now it's coming to a head, I mean, so now it's sort of clear.
01:08That's good, I know it's going to happen, we accept it,
01:11and focus in Ipwystown and after West Ham,
01:14international break and Brentford, Arsenal, Champions League and so on.
01:20I can give you all the calendar, it's in my mind.
01:23Hi Pep, with Ilkay coming in,
01:26do you see him as a player who could possibly play the same role
01:29that Rodri plays at the base of midfield?
01:31Because obviously he's spoken a lot in the summer,
01:33hasn't he, about that need for a racer?
01:35What I said can play in the position of Rodri, like Kovac,
01:38like Nico, like maybe Mateus alongside someone else.
01:42John and Manu can play alongside another one in the position of Rodri,
01:47and Gundo can play for attacking midfield.
01:49He's a guy who closes the box, he's good, can play with a false nine.
01:52So he's a player who can play in different roles
01:57because he's defined as a football player.
02:01So no, no, I play as a right-back, no, I play as a left-back,
02:03I play as a central defender.
02:05No, no, he's a football player, and football player means understand.
02:08It depends on the position I play, understand what you have to do.
02:11And Gundo has these qualities.
02:14And on Rodri, you said he's not back in training yet.
02:17Is that due to injury, or is that due to him...?
02:19No, it's OK. He had an injury with the national team,
02:23and he still has some niggles.
02:25But it's the last part, it's training.
02:28I saw yesterday quite highly, I would say,
02:32and it's just a question of, I think, days
02:35that he'll be rejoining the group to make training sessions.
02:42So Erling talked about, after the game on Sunday,
02:45that he said that you want him to be more involved
02:49when we talked about his involvement in the game.
02:51Can you talk a little bit about what exactly you have talked about?
02:55No.
02:59I like when he touches the ball.
03:01I like when he scores goals, definitely, if he's wrong.
03:04But I like when, in the right moment,
03:07he can drop in and keep in and make analysis,
03:10and be involved in the situation.
03:12I see him fit much, much better than last season in these stages,
03:17and that is the most important thing.
03:19It's known I have one game a week, so the recovery is easier.
03:22But after the international break, I started a crazy schedule,
03:25and that's why we'll see what happens.
03:27He talked about a million-dollar question also,
03:31about the game against Chelsea.
03:33If he wants to be more involved or not, does he want to?
03:37Do you have a good answer to this million-dollar question?
03:43No. Listen, football, the most difficult position is the early position.
03:47Striker gets surrounded by two central defenders, three.
03:51Most of the time, most central defenders before may switch across,
03:55so when the ball is in the sides, they go to help the full-backs.
03:58Few teams, now there are two players, three players in him,
04:01so it's not easy to find the spaces.
04:04But he's patient, and what I'm saying, when you feel the spaces is here,
04:08you have to move in that way, dropping, you have to.
04:10You have the ability to keep the ball and play,
04:13and we cannot forget he's still a young player, 23, 24 years old,
04:16he has a margin to play, and he's open-minded to do it.
04:22Hi, Pep. Just going back to Gundogan,
04:24you obviously bumped into him in Orlando the other week.
04:27Sorry?
04:28You met each other in Orlando the other week before the match.
04:32When? Oh, yeah.
04:34I just wondered what his mood was like that day when you saw him.
04:39I didn't even notice a gesture or something like,
04:42you know, how I miss Manchester.
04:47Absolutely, he told me I'm really good, I'm happy,
04:51and just come back for the holidays, start training, and the season.
04:56I know Hansi Flick, the manager, is really good.
05:00Just talk about family, how is life, and that's all.
05:05Can I just ask what the impact, Gundogan re-signing,
05:10the impact that might have on some of the other midfielders,
05:13so someone like James McAtee, have you had any thoughts?
05:16Everyone stay here.
05:18We don't have a dead-dead squad, we have 19, 20, 21 players,
05:23so not much young players like Nico,
05:26and now the situation for Oscar until December, January,
05:29he will not be here with us.
05:31No, no, nothing changed. A lot of games, everyone had to fight.
05:34The impact will depend on how he plays.
05:36If he plays good, the impact will be good.
05:38If he plays not good, the impact will not be good.
05:40So I know him a little bit.
05:46As a manager, I'm not a big, big fan to re-sign players at this age.
05:50I'm not a big fan of that.
05:54But I know Guadalupe, and I know his mentality is in the right position.
05:59He's a huge competitor, and with the financial situation for the transfer,
06:05he left free, he came back free, so that's normal.
06:09So we talked about that.
06:11I said, OK, we can do it if we can,
06:14because now there's negotiations between clubs, it's not my business.
06:18And the salary as well, so I don't know.
06:21If it happens, we have to try it.
06:24Just quickly on the ladyship element of Gundogan,
06:29did you miss a bit of that last year, the sort of quiet leadership?
06:33The season last season was quite good.
06:35Yeah, but he's a different kind of leader though, isn't he, to some of the others?
06:40No, everyone is everyone.
06:43For example, Kevin is an excellent leader.
06:46He doesn't talk much before the game, in the half-time or during the day,
06:50but he's an incredible leader, and express, proving.
06:55One of the most influential players ever in history is Kevin,
06:59and it's definitely leadership.
07:01Everyone expresses, and Gundo is respected because he's such an intelligent man,
07:06and he's honest in his analysis.
07:11He puts the team and the club in front of his performance itself,
07:16and he knows exactly when to play good and play bad.
07:19He reads perfectly what's going on, what's happened.
07:22You know, having these type of players on the pitch when the situation is bad,
07:26even responsibility, he feels the pressure really well,
07:29it doesn't matter what happens.
07:31He's incredibly happy with what we've noticed since he's arrived.
07:36Shoes on and go on.
07:40Hi, Pep.
07:41With Ilkay coming back so quickly, and the situation that Raheem finds himself at Chelsea,
07:45do you think it shows that perhaps the players you ask to leave here
07:48don't always find a better situation at these other clubs?
07:52Every situation is completely different.
07:54I don't know.
07:56So when you take a decision, you have to take it that it's the best for the club,
08:00for the players especially, and what happens in the future, nobody knows.
08:04Who knows how it's going to happen with Ilkay now in the next year or two years?
08:10Nobody knows.
08:11We expect the best, but I don't know when the people leave, expect the best.
08:14So when we try to do our best for the players, we have to deliver the best for the club.
08:20It always depends on the players, so that's what we try.
08:23Create a good environment, good vibes in the locker room, be connected,
08:29create a team, be connected.
08:31When I hear most of the players with their wives go together, go out for dinners,
08:37they make a lot of gatherings together, they win a lot of points,
08:41these kind of aspects, and we have a really, really good group of people.
08:47Because even Ilkay, I think in his quotes, someone who's so experienced,
08:50and he seems like quite a measured guy, spoke about not really appreciating
08:54what you have here until you go somewhere else.
08:57It feels like quite a warning to someone else who might come to you and say they want to...
09:00Well, it sometimes happens in our lives, in every profession it happens, no?
09:05But I don't know.
09:07Only I can say that Ilkay, when we spoke yesterday and the day before a little bit,
09:11but yesterday, the experience of being in Barcelona is unforgettable for him.
09:17It was ups and downs, I know Barcelona's situation is different than years ago.
09:21New stadium, it's not Camp Nou, playing Montjuïc, it's different situations,
09:25everything in little details happens.
09:27But his experience, personally, for his future, maybe as a manager or future,
09:31whatever, has been top.
09:36Hi Pep, just on Ilkay again, sorry.
09:38Has he actually trained with the squad yet, or will today?
09:41No, yesterday was medical and commercials and city TV and all this kind of stuff.
09:49From your conversations with him, starting this week,
09:52what kind of assurances have you got that he is determined,
09:56and like you said, this won't be a...
09:58No, I spoke with Lloren and he said, no, I'm fine, I'm okay.
10:01Medical test was brilliant and he's skinny.
10:05I think he's fit, so yeah.
10:08I think we don't have a lot of players, so maybe we'll be in the squad.
10:13Today we'll be training, we'll train with us and we'll see,
10:16smell, how does he feel.
10:19In terms of his mentality, your conversations with him,
10:22have led you to believe that he's fully...
10:24There's no doubt about that.
10:26He's a huge competitor.
10:29Hi Pep, Ilkay had two years left on his contract at Barcelona,
10:33he signed for one year here.
10:35Was that the club preferring one year or him?
10:38It was one plus one, I think so.
10:43When he was here last, he was obviously an automatic choice
10:47for playing all the biggest games.
10:50You clearly had a successful season last year.
10:53Does he return as a starter, do you see, or more as a squad player?
10:58Let me know how he behaves.
11:01How he trains, how he plays.
11:03If he's going to play tomorrow and the next game, let me see.
11:09If he doesn't perform well, we'll play another one.
11:12We have Fielder, we have Kevin, we have Bernardo, we have Rodriguez,
11:16we have Kovac, we have Mateos, we have Maka.
11:19So, we have to perform.
11:22Because we know his potential, I know everybody knows it.
11:28Seven years here, all the fans, myself, the maids, how good he is.
11:32But he has to deliver everything, every single day.
11:35That's why the club sustains him on top.