Angelino: Life at City under Pep killed me

FORMER Manchester City wing-back Angelino says life under manager Pep Guardiola ‘killed’ his confidence. The 24-year-old Spaniard spent seven-and-a half years with City, which included four loan moves and just 15 first-team appearances. In 2018, Angelino was sold to PSV Eindhoven, only for Guardiola to buy him back a year later. After six more difficult months in England, he was sent to RB Leipzig on loan before manager Julian Nagelsmann made the deal permanent earlier this month. Angelino claims Guardiola did not trust him and judged him on only a couple of pre-season matches. Asked how the bit-part role affected him, Angelino said: ‘It killed me. Confidence, for me it’s everything. When you don’t have the trust — like here with the coach (Nagelsmann) — it’s everything. ‘I was judged in pre-season — two games — and then I didn’t get my chance for a few months. I’m just happy that happened so I could come here, meet Julian and everyone here.’ On how the two managers compare, Angelino added: ‘There’s one big difference — one gave me confidence and played me. The other didn’t. ‘I’m thankful to Julian for the trust and sometimes you need courage to put a player in, and he did from the first game.’ Reflecting on his stint at City, Angelino said: ‘It was a 50/50 experience. On one side I really learned a lot from Pep, he improved me as a player. ‘On the other side, I didn’t play as much as I wanted to or deserved to. I am thankful that I now play most of the time.’