In the recently concluded 15th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Sunderland 3-0 at home. After the match, City manager Pep Guardiola attended a press conference, and the media released the second part of the Spanish coach’s remarks.
On Manchester City’s Current Premier League Title Race Situation
“From my experience, the key to winning the Premier League is maintaining consistency. Whether you’re trailing 2-1 or leading 4-1, this consistency stems from your style of play and how much you’ve grown. Today’s performance over 95 minutes was probably one of our best this season. We gained good momentum in the second half.
“Going back to the Wolves game, we played extremely well in the first half but struggled a bit after the break. Against Fulham, we had a solid first half but fizzled out in the second. We’ve discussed these situations and the reasons behind them.
“It’s not about specific defensive or offensive actions. Today, we faced a team that has performed well against strong opponents so far this season. We only gave them one chance – apart from that, our performance was quite outstanding.”
Hi Pep. When you went to the Bernabéu in February, you faced many tough issues. This time around, you must feel stronger and more confident, right?
“No, that’s not the case. Now I have more players who can find their positions on the pitch more easily. Let me put it this way: we missed a great opportunity in the Leverkusen game, one that could have brought us closer (to qualifying from the group). But it’s okay – we’ll stick to our style of play. We still have three chances to get the points we need to advance to the knockout stages. I hope we can perform as we usually do, just as I’ve always hoped – when you step onto a bigger stage, play your own way, whether you win or lose in the end. In the long run, it’s important to still have a job next season, but that’s not the key here.”
Foden has scored at the Bernabéu and has already netted quite a few goals this season. But more importantly, he’s played a lot of games and maintained a high level of consistent performance, hasn’t he?
“Foden’s performance in terms of scoring is simply incredible – it has been since I arrived at the club. So I don’t think he needs to prove anything to me. Today, he wasn’t feeling well physically, but look at his performance on the pitch – his movement, his runs forward, and the way he holds the ball. Foden in his current good form is a real godsend. He’s like a diamond, a top, top player.”
Can I confirm – is John Stones injured?
“He is injured, yes.”
Do we have any idea how long he’ll be out?
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
Since the Leverkusen game, you haven’t rotated the lineup much – only making one or two changes occasionally. So in Madrid, might you need to make some personnel adjustments?
“No, don’t ‘ruin me’. I’ve said before that I don’t want to be criticized for ‘ruining’ a game with substitutions again. So I will make some changes – I want to be nice to you. No other reason, that’s why I’m making this decision. As for what happens next, we’ll see the players’ conditions in three or four days. But of course, we need to – Omar Marmoush performed extremely well today.
“In my opinion, Marmoush is one of the best players – his ability to drive forward and make runs in behind is outstanding. Strikers sometimes deserve more playing time in the final minutes of games, but today he made four or five incredible runs in behind, which is why Nico was able to play those two through balls to him. But we’ll see how things go later. For now, to be honest, let’s enjoy today’s victory first – we’ll start thinking about the Champions League tomorrow.”
