Football

Guardiola’s message to City fans ahead of derby

Guardiola’s message to City fans ahead of derby

Pep Guardiola has sent a reminder to Manchester City fans about the success they have enjoyed together ahead of Saturday’s pivotal Manchester derby. With City enduring a difficult spell of form, by their standards at least, Guardiola is keen to ensure that the City faithful see the bigger picture. 

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the City boss said:

“City fans cannot complain about what this team is able to do, have done and will do. What happened against Southampton didn’t surprise me. We tried to avoid it and hopefully, it won’t happen again but sometimes you have to rest players. 

We cannot talk on behalf of the fans, they are brilliant. I know what they think. We do four Premier League titles in five years and this competition shows me, in terms of consistency, what we have to do.”

With a crunch set of fixtures on the horizon, including the game at Old Trafford on Saturday and then the visit of Tottenham on Thursday, Guardiola is keen to have the fans on side. While there is no indication whatsoever that the City faithful will turn on the players, the Blues have been in rocky form for a couple of months now. 

In their final game before the World Cup, they lost at home to Brentford and then drew with a desperate Everton team on New Year’s Eve. While there have been positive results in between, they have rarely played anywhere close to what they are capable of. 

city at southampton

An old enemy in good form

While City still go into the game with United as favourites, it’s arguably the most in-form United team Pep Guardiola will have ever faced as City boss. Erik Ten Hag’s team are currently on an eight-match winning run and sit just four points behind Manchester City in the Premier League table. 

Earlier this week, IIkay Gundogan said that United looked “stronger than ever” while after defeat to Southampton, Guardiola said that his team would have “no chance” of coming out on top in the game at Old Trafford if they played like they did at St Mary’s. 

In his press conference today, Guardiola was slightly more measured when asked about his thoughts on United:

“They have improved a lot, it’s normal when a new manager arrives but the improvement is clear. Not just results. I have the feeling every time I’ve played them it has been difficult because both teams want to win with quality in both sides and top managers.

It is Man Utd. What happened in the past is their problem, but it is normal that they are there, four points behind. For me, they haven’t surprised me. That is why this competition is so difficult.”

Stones injury news

Earlier this week, Guardiola said that he had some “ridiculous” plans up his sleeve for the derby, but these plans may have been thrown out the window with the news that John Stones isn’t going to be fit enough to play. 

Other than Stones being out, Guardiola has confirmed that “everyone else is fit” and that preparation for the game has been normal despite the loss in midweek.


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