Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola apologises to the Orient fans for calling them Leyton!
08/02/2025
Leyton Orient FC, London, UK
08/02/2025
Leyton Orient FC, London, UK
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00:00Congratulations. Can I just first ask you, as someone who is so steeped in football,
00:07what you thought when the first goal went in?
00:11What a goal. So it was a fantastic shoot and kick, the quality, technique,
00:17the speed, the fly of the ball.
00:20So when you concede this goal, it just congratulates the guy
00:28who I think was the only incredible left foot player.
00:32We saw him and he made a fantastic goal.
00:36Can I ask you a few thoughts on the tie as a whole?
00:40Obviously, it was a hard game and also the injury to Gonzalez in that move.
00:47Well, I think Nico got to immediately what is the Premier League and the referees.
00:54So I know without BAR it's more difficult because they are not used,
01:01but I know it's a Ligue 1.
01:03But there was one or two actions that I say that because we won.
01:05Otherwise, I would have stayed silent.
01:08But there is a clamorous penalty. But I understand.
01:11I think he understood perfectly what a single it is.
01:16And it's a pity because I don't know, you know, the kick,
01:20how hard it is, but could not continue.
01:22And it was tough, you know, to finish the game with Rico and Bernardo
01:29like a left and right back.
01:31They are not, I would say, the giant people I have ever seen as a left back.
01:36So, but I've said the first ten minutes,
01:38I would say that they attacked really good the channel.
01:40And after that, except the last ten minutes,
01:42I think we play a really good game. It's impossible to control.
01:46It's my ninth season in England.
01:47I play many times in a lower division
01:50in this incredible competition.
01:51So the vibe and the smell of the crowd
01:55and everything you play in the FA Cup,
01:57you don't find it in other places,
01:59especially in these games.
02:00I've been remembered in Newport with Michael Flynn,
02:03the manager, with Cheltenham and many others.
02:06And always we behave really good.
02:08So we were lucky at the end. We got the high chances,
02:10but we created a lot in front of the keeper.
02:13It was really, really good.
02:14And yeah, it was a tight game.
02:16We knew it for the situation that we have,
02:18but we behave really, really well.
02:20We react really well with a great character.
02:23And yeah, we are in the next round. It's always nice.
02:25So we have been in the last four or five years,
02:27in the last stages, semifinals and all the time.
02:30So it's good to continue.
02:33You changed your defenders at half-time.
02:36Was that just tactical?
02:38Yeah, Ruben, the plan was Ruben just 45 minutes.
02:40We come from injury and I didn't want to bring two new players,
02:45Koussa and Victor, playing at the same time.
02:48With that result, it was too much risk.
02:51I want one alongside with experience with Ruben and John.
02:54John was amazing in the second half as well.
02:57And that was the reason why, that was the reason why.
03:02For the new players coming in,
03:03was that the perfect welcome to English football?
03:06Absolutely. You have to live that.
03:09My first away game was in Stockport, against Stock City.
03:13So a long time ago.
03:14So I realised immediately what the Premier League is.
03:17And you love the FA Cup.
03:19You talk so fondly about the competition.
03:23The atmosphere there was just fantastic.
03:24Fantastic.
03:26Were you able to enjoy it at all?
03:30Well, when they say you are going to suck in the morning,
03:33not much, but it's a routine in all the stadiums right now.
03:37So still, with this result,
03:40I think my chairman is not going to suck me tomorrow.
03:42That's for sure. But I would say that was really good.
03:46Really good. It's not the first time I would say that.
03:48I don't know in a Ligue 1, in every single game,
03:50the vibe is like this. I don't know.
03:53But it's really good. You come to Ashens or the football,
03:57the locker room is, you know, so tight.
04:00The players are so, they even can't talk more than in a big locker room.
04:04But all of us, I said many times to the players,
04:06we came from here.
04:08So we didn't warm up at 67, 80, 90 years old.
04:11We go to Wembley. We were born in this place,
04:14in these locker rooms, you know.
04:17And I like, especially when you play in the lower divisions,
04:20I like the way we want the team to behave.
04:27Because you really behave properly. How many surprises have been in the FA Cup
04:31through the long history in this competition.
04:34And I said that we won, I think, the first or second season,
04:36when we play a lot of minutes, 10 against 11.
04:40The rest, all the time, we were there,
04:43and we played good games in difficult circumstances,
04:46difficult environments. And now, of course,
04:50our position is a little bit unstable emotionally.
04:53We have actually a lot of injuries,
04:54and that's why I go through in these results.
04:58It makes me so, so proud and so happy.
05:01What did you think at the end when Leighton Oren got the free kick,
05:04and sent the goalkeeper up? Were you kind of fearing that he's going to,
05:07because he's scored already in this competition,
05:08were you fearing he's going to do it again and take possession?
05:10Well, I didn't know who scored before,
05:12because I'm sorry I don't follow as much Leighton.
05:14So I saw it the last two, three, this week a little bit more,
05:17because we had more time. Of course,
05:19we had a clear chance, but we have. With Phil Foden,
05:22with Kevin, with Bernardo Henrico,
05:24we are a small team and they bring a lot of players,
05:28strong, good delivers. You are going to suffer,
05:32definitely. But the game should have been,
05:36a score, Omar had a lot of chances we had there,
05:38you know, but the keeper winning a fantastic game.
05:41We know, no matter it's a Premier League, Championship League,
05:44One League, Two, you go, if you're capped 2-1 last minutes,
05:47you are going to suffer, my friend. It's impossible to say,
05:51it's not going to happen. They bring players there and they can do it,
05:54it's always difficult.
05:57I know you have huge respect for the FA Cup,
05:59but I do have to give you a small correction.
06:01It's Orient, not Leighton.
06:04They get very defensive about it in these parts.
06:07Listen, I don't want to offend anyone. I've been offended many times,
06:10but I don't want to offend. Don't worry.
06:14All of you talk about me and me not talk about your job,
06:16so don't offend me.
06:18I'm so sorry for the people, for this lovely stadium.
06:22But what did you make of their performance as a whole?
06:27The atmosphere and what it meant to this football club?
06:31I said Leighton, Orient,
06:34so I said properly now. So I said before,
06:39it's special. You feel it. You feel it.
06:42You feel it. So I play more direct,
06:44but of course, when they can contact the striker,
06:48it's so dangerous in the channels, how they attack,
06:51how strong they are. Number 10 is a fantastic player.
06:54So I like it the same many times.
06:57So I know it's not perfect for us,
07:00and we like a perfect grass and different conditions,
07:03but that was the FA Cup, right?
07:05So because any team in any competition has the right to fight
07:09against top teams to try to beat them.
07:12And we knew it. We know it. We knew it before.
07:14So there's no one player thought we'll come here.
07:16We take, you know, the tablecloth. I'm going to make an incredible dinner.
07:21We knew that is not going to happen,
07:22and we felt it, and we compete,
07:26and we were there until the end.