Guardiola must change to beat Chelsea
MANCHESTER CITY boss Pep Guardiola must improve his side’s record against the big clubs to win the Premier League, according to Jamie Redknapp.
City host league leaders Chelsea tomorrow with just one point separating the two sides.
In their clashes with the league’s bigger teams, City have beaten neighbours Manchester United but were comprehensively beaten by Tottenham.
And Redknapp feels Guardiola must rectify their indifferent results and come up with a way of breaking down Chelsea’s 3-4-3 system.
He told Sky Sports: “City’s record against the big teams is just not good enough. That’s what Guardiola has got to change.
“They can beat the lesser teams and beat them comfortably, but can they go and beat the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal?
“That is where they really struggled last year and it may be what stops City winning the league unless Guardiola can change that.
“So this is a huge game for them, I can’t wait to watch it and see what tactically Guardiola has in store for Conte with this system he plays.
“Maybe Tottenham first half found the answer, it is just whether someone can do it for a whole game.” – Express Newspapers
in a newspaper interview.
It was the final straw for City after a history of embarrassing outbursts by Seluk.
But after making a personal apology to Guardiola and losing some weight as his manager had demanded, Toure was restored to the squad and was included in the starting XI for the last two Premier League games.
He scored twice on his comeback in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace and then played a part in the victory by the same score at Burnley on Saturday.
But that is unlikely to be enough to prevent Toure, 33, from dropping to the bench for the Etihad showdown with Antonio Conte’s side because Guardiola is set to recall Ilkay Gundogan.
The German international, a £21million summer buy from Borussia Dortmund and regarded as Toure’s long-term replacement, was rested from Palace and Burnley games but is expected to be recalled to the last reestabish Guardiola’s preferred midfield partnership with Fernandinho. – Express Newspapers
Wednesday. Southgate is keen to stamp his own identity on England and a decision on the captaincy is high on the agenda and indeed handed the armband to Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson for two of the four games he was in charge of as interim boss – with Rooney dropped in Slovenia and injured against Spain. And yesterday FA technical director Dan Ashworth said: “Gareth will be starting to think about some of the changes he wants to make for March and going forwards. Like any new manager does in any position, they want to stamp their own personality on it, make a few changes and make it more like his own.” The former England defender and Middlesbrough manager’s first game in charge as permanent coach will the friendly against Germany in Dortmund in March, followed by the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. Southgate, who came through an unbeaten interim period before being handed the task of succeeding Sam Allardyce – he was the only candidate in fact considered – said: “I’m extremely proud to be appointed England manager. I’m also conscious that getting the job is one thing, now I want to do the job successfully. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the players over these past four games and I think there’s huge potential. I’m determined to give everything I have to give the country a team that they’re proud of and one that they’re going to enjoy watching play and develop. For me, the hard work starts now.” – Express Newspapers