LAPORTE BOOST FOR BLUES
INSIDE: UEFA LAUNCH PROBE INTO CITY FFP ‘BREACH’
CITY centre-back Aymeric Laporte has returned to first-team training ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League clash with Watford.
The Frenchman was withdrawn through injury at half-time in City’s Carabao Cup final victory after pulling up with a hamstring injury following a chase with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard.
The match at Wembley would transpire to be a costly affair as Fernandinho was also withdrawn just before the end of the 90 minutes with a muscle problem.
In the build-up to last Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Bournemouth, Blues boss Pep Guardiola gave an injury update on the pair: “I don’t know. I think after international break for Fernandinho, maybe Aymeric a few days later.”
Yet the 24-year-old’s return to training seemingly ahead of schedule must come as a welcomed relief for Guardiola.
KYLE Walker flew into the back of Joshua King with the kind of chopping action that spells little else but trouble.
The Bournemouth forward, fortunate to survive the attack, got to his feet and grabbed the Manchester City defender by the throat.
Walker, incensed, retaliated by directing his head towards the Norwegian.
City were a goal up against Bournemouth and on course for a ninth win in 10 Premier League games to ensure their return to top spot. Walker had lost his head.
It was needless and smacked of a loss of nerve that Pep Guardiola will not tolerate amid City’s bid for a maiden title defence.
A similar criticism might have been levelled a day later when Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, quoted the wind at Goodison Park as a contributing factor to his side’s fourth draw in six Premier League games.
It was far from the perfect response to a frustrating performance yet the rigours of the closest title race since City pipped Liverpool – and Chelsea – to the post in 2014 dictate that the reaction to each result of the run-in is magnified tenfold.
In usual circumstances, Liverpool’s draws against Manchester United and Everton – either side of comfortable wins over Bournemouth and Watford – would amount to positive results.
Klopp’s bemusing explanation for his side’s showing was as damaging to his side’s title bid as their squandering of eight points in six games and came after Guardiola reaffirmed his unwavering message that maintaining City’s performance levels will be the primary focus at the Etihad – regardless of their position in the table. Performances are, he insists, more important than results and stem from his side’s biggest weapon: their mentality.
It is why Guardiola would not stand for Walker risking a ban for a needless coming together.
The City manager positioned himself between the England defender and King on the touchline at the Vitality Stadium and put an end to the matter before Walker’s hot head might have cost him a three-match spell in the stands.
Walker’s abandoned discipline bore the hallmarks of the kind of mental fatigue that Guardiola has consistently told his players will not be tolerated. “We are tired? F*** you!” was Guardiola’s stern response to the notion of tiredness as Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary tracked City’s progress towards a recordbreaking, 100-point Premier League title win last season. The City boss has since reiterated that amid the most competitive league finish he has experienced since Barcelona’s league win in 2011, nothing, he insists, is of greater value than consistency in mentality over course of hectic title race this season. “The Premier League away is always tough,” he said ahead of Saturday’s victory at Bournemouth. “We don’t think too much [about tiredness]. “If we make the balance to say how many games we played in last three months and how fresh we are, we could not be fresh. At the end the mindset and your desire can control everything.” City have this week enjoyed only their second seven-day spell without a midweek fixture since the turn
At the end, the mindset and your desire control everything Pep Guardiola
of the year and the Blues have been afforded the rare opportunity to recharge their batteries mentally as much as physically.
Not that they would have needed it. Guardiola insisted in January that recuperation is reserved for retirement.
“We have a lot of games,” he said. “It is what it is. But at the same time I tell them it’s a privilege. If you believe it’s a handicap, that’s a big mistake. It’s a privilege.
“When you are 35-years-old you can have long holidays. No problem, you will be retired. Take a year for holidays. But for now it’s a privilege. Take it, enjoy it. Next one, win again.
“The competition doesn’t matter. Friendly game? Win again. Play good, prepare well. That’s the only way. After, you work for the next season.”
It’s a mantra that could blow Liverpool away.