Perfectionist Guardiola makes point by sidelining starlet Sane
MANCHESTER CITY’s players be warned. Leroy Sane is proof that reputation does not guarantee a place in Pep Guardiola’s squad.
Sane was outstanding last season in a record-breaking City side, winning the PFA’s Young Player of the Year award, yet now he can’t even get on the bench.
Guardiola has, in public, tried to play down suggestions that he is unhappy with the forward’s attitude. At the very least, though, Sane’s exclusion from the squad for Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle is a sign that he is not currently up to the standards required.
As far as team-mate Gabriel Jesus is concerned, every City player should heed the message that only the best will do.
“It’s normal with this amazing squad for a player to be left out for a game,” said Jesus.
“This time it was Sane, but in the future it’s going to be me or other players too. I’m going to work hard to avoid that from happening to me, though.”
Guardiola suggested during pre-season that Sane was “far from his best”, as the player fought to recover from the disappointment of being left out of Germany’s World Cup squad.
Coincidentally, the forward will join up with Joachim Low’s squad for games against France and Peru this week.
“We all know the quality Sane has,” Jesus added. “But it’s the beginning of the season, it’s normal that some players have started stronger or are more fit than others. I just hope when he comes back to the team he’s at 100pc and able to help us as he’s always done.”
Guardiola, it would seem, is doing all he can to keep his players on their toes, and with good reason. Before the campaign began, he spoke of how a constant fear of losing games keeps him hungry for success. He has to be certain that his players feel the same and that last season’s achievements
don’t disappear in a fog of complacency.
The manager is also fighting history. Only three managers in the past half-century have defended an English league title successfully: Bob Paisley, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.
“You never know how you’re going to react, in terms of consistency, when coming back for the new season,” Guardiola said. “We beat Chelsea in the Community Shield and in general in our four league games we were better than the four teams we played. That’s what we are looking for, to be better.”
City were better than a resolute Newcastle side to take their points total to 10 from four matches, although it was a struggle even after Raheem Sterling had given them a seventh-minute lead.
Newcastle worked hard to frustrate City, drawing level through DeAndre Yedlin on the half-hour, and looked ready to bed in for a point until Kyle Walker’s fierce 25-yard strike won the game seven minutes after the interval. Walker hadn’t scored for nearly three years, and it was his first in a City shirt.
Guardiola’s side are missing the creative spark provided by Kevin De Bruyne, who will be out until late November with a knee injury, but the manager is confident his team will hit their stride after the international break.
” (© Daily Telegraph, London)