Slick City show Sarri scale of task at hand

PEP Guardiola was proud of Manchester City’s effort in a Community Shield victory that left Maurizio Sarri under no illusion about the task ahead of him at Chelsea.

The curtain- raiser went the way of last season’s Premier League champions, with Sergio Aguero ( below) striking either side of half- time in a win far more comfortable than the 2- 0 scoreline would suggest.

What they lacked in sharpness, City more than made up for in quality against a Blues side struggling for coherence under new boss Sarri.

“Kyle Walker trained two sessions,” Guardiola said. “It’s complicated for all of them but they are such competitive guys. Hats off because is not easy to play with such a short time.

“We knew a little bit from Napoli last season what Maurizio could do. We saw the games against Perth, Inter and Arsenal and we tried to it figure out what we can do with and without the ball.

“We would like to be more intense in the pressing, but it was impossible because the players were absolutely exhausted.

“I didn’t expect that level in that period after a short, short training session.

“It’s a minor title, everybody is going for the Premier League, the FA Cup or the Champions League. But to play for this title you have to win the Premier League or the FA Cup so it is not easy.”

Just three weeks into the job, Sarri is left facing an uphill battle to prepare his squad for Saturday’s match against Huddersfield.

“In this moment, there is a little difference – maybe not little – between us and City,” said the Italian.