Manager’s Pep talk helped squad battle

A PEP talk from City’s manager helped his players get in the right frame of mind for their Stoke City match.

The Blues were in superb form before the international break but could have seen their momentum disrupted by the domestic break.

With that in mind, there was more than one conversation to make sure there was no lethargy and City responded with three goals in under half an hour.

“We spoke about starting well,” said Guardiola. “These kind of games after the international break sometimes you take your time so yesterday in the training session and today we spoke about that. You have to start good and be aggressive. We have to [control] the game, we cannot wait. When there is a foul, immediately play on. Throw-in? Play on. We have to do our game and we did it.

“We saw from the beginning the team was there.

“David [Silva] in the beginning had the best game I think he has had in the last two or three weeks – he was dynamic and moves in a way that is so difficult to control for the opponents.

“Kevin didn’t score today but he’s a guy who’s so dynamic and he understands the game. When he has the ball close to the wings, our strikers and attacking midfielders know to move because the ball is coming. He’s a big talent player. Again, he made a good performance today.”