Dirty tricks? We’d never do that, says Pep
PEP GUARDioLA has hit back at Jose Mourinho insisting he would never order his players to foul their opponents.
Ahead of last weekend’s Manchester derby, the United manager suggested City players dive and also said Guardiola’s men commit tactical fouls to stop counterattacks — warning ref Michael oliver to be wary of them.
‘i never, never, never, never sent a message to my players,’ said Guardiola, whose runaway leaders host Tottenham tonight looking for a 16th successive Premier League win.
‘You can ask the players if my message on the pitch was to make fouls. i don’t use this kind of message.’
And the Catalan, whose side beat United 2-1, insisted that it is difficult to commit such fouls anyway when a team has the ball as much as City do.
‘i don’t know how many fouls we make on the pitch,’ he said. ‘i don’t know.
‘But i think when you have 70 per cent possession we are not that team. When we have the ball, we kick each other — i don’t think that happens.’
The visit of Tottenham marks the first time £ 50million signing Kyle Walker will face his old club.
At the time of City’s swoop, many questioned the hefty fee. But Walker has hit back at his critics with a series of fine performances and has been a key factor in City’s form, leading Guardiola to believe that the right back is one of the world’s best in his position.
‘Right now i’d rate him as one of the best definitely,’ said Guardiola, who believes he can help Walker improve mentally.
‘i’d like to help him to solve not just the problems physically but also through his thinking.
‘ When you are so strong physically, you solve all the problems that way. When you get to a certain age you need to think more about what is going to happen.’
Walker is not the only one Guardiola is working on. in an ominous message to the rest of the league he vowed to improve his whole team.
‘i have the feeling we can do better,’ said Guardiola. ‘And that’s what we will try to do. There are many things that we can improve. it depends on the opponent, because we do not play alone.’
That is a scary prospect — but Guardiola dismissed the notion of his side emulating Arsenal’s invincibles. ‘it’s not going to happen,’ he said.
‘We are going to lose games, it belongs to Arsene Wenger.’
Guardiola has been linked with a renewed move for one of Wenger’s current players, Alexis Sanchez but claimed he was in the dark about any move. ‘That’s a good question,’ he said. ‘i don’t know.’
The City boss disclosed that Vincent Kompany is not far from a return but admitted they would be looking for a new centre back next month.