Pep: ‘I don’t care what happens at Old Trafford’
ANY good parent can tell you the perils of appearing like you favour one of your kids above another and it can be the same for football managers.
And yet Pep Guardiola’s public treatment of two of his brightest young talents could not be more different.
The City manager is positively gushing about Bernardo Silva, repeatedly declaring his love for the Portugal international and this week declaring him to be his national team’s biggest star, a bold statement with Cristiano Ronaldo still in the frame.
But when asked about Leroy Sane, Guardiola is more reserved, less effusive and more guarded in his praise.
In the press conference ahead of the Schalke game, Guardiola was asked about both players.
Mention of Bernardo’s name had him enthusing about him being the ‘biggest star’ for Portugal, a ‘lovely person,’ ‘the most beloved in the locker room’ and ‘a joy.’
But when the subject of Sane was brought up, he referred to the young German as ‘an incredible player with potential’ and twice repeated that ‘it depends on him’ in terms of how big a player he becomes.
The two men are in direct competition for a place in the team for the Carabao Cup final at Wembley today - and Sane’s brilliant cameo at Schalke, when he scored a stunning equaliser, has made that selection a tad harder.
It can be puzzling to an outsider, seeing the affection Guardiola showers on Bernardo, while he can sometimes seem a little distant on the subject of Sane.
But we all saw why Sane gets the tough love and Bernardo the puppy love.
The former Schalke player came off the bench with City trailing at the Veltins Arena and when they won a free-kick close to 30 yards out, Sane staked an immediate claim.
Kevin de Bruyne gave a resigned shrug - he has been ineffective from such set-pieces recently - and Sane stepped up to draw the Blues level in spectacular fashion.
It followed a pattern. He often emerges from a period of being marginalised to produce something stunning.
He did it last season, when left out for the beginning of the campaign with Guardiola openly questioning his approach.
When he got his chance, he was sensational in a Carabao Cup win at West Brom, then went on against Liverpool and scored two beauties.
That was a performance, from the bench, that dared the manager to drop him again. He didn’t and Sane ended up a Centurion and Young Player of the Year.
But he was left out of Germany’s World Cup squad, with Toni Koos questioning whether he cared enough and was again sidelined by City at the start of the season.
It’s a case of different personalities, different treatment from the manager.
Sane is a polite, decent young man, friendly and charming when you spend a little time with him, but he often comes across as aloof striding through the media mixed zone stony-faced, ignoring requests for interviews.
Bernardo is perhaps a little too nice for his own good - he finds it hard to say ‘no’ to journalists, simply because he has an endearing innocence and is such an amiable soul.
Guardiola embraces that loveability and recognises it has become the source of a strong bond in his squad.
Sane is a little more complex, can be more prickly and clearly responds well when his ambition is challenged and his ego pricked.
Not that he is a runaway selfobserver like some players Guardiola will not have such characters in his squad.
But he seems to need more stick than carrot and if there is a little distance between manager and player, you get the feeling that one day Sane, when he stands astride the football world, will recognise that the gaffer did it for good reason.