A whole new ball game as Aguero gets Pep talk
MANCHESTER CITY striker Sergio Aguero has revealed he has had to change his game to suit his ‘demanding’ new manager Pep Guardiola.
Aguero, arguably the club’s greatest-ever player, with 142 goals in 211 appearances, is seen by the new City boss as their first line of defence, having been given a free rein by previous manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Yet the extra workload doesn’t seem to have affected the Argentinian in front of goal, with six in the last three games.
‘Pep has changed the way we have been playing in previous years. In my case, he’s very demanding,’ said Aguero.
‘I need to be the player who starts the pressure and the rest of my team-mates will join me. I’m happy to do that. Guardiola is the boss now and we need to listen to him. What he tells me is to make me a better player.
‘We have played just three games, so I’m still getting used to it. I need to keep improving. The boss’s arrival is great for me because with his style of play, I’ll have more chances to score and, hopefully, we will win more games.’
Guardiola said he was not asking 28-year-old Aguero to do anything he is not capable of doing.
‘I know he will not always be one to physically battle defenders, or a fighter like the one who runs 30, 40 metres to close someone down. I don’t want that.
‘But we spoke about Sergio helping us to make that first action in a few metres. He is trying to help us do that, which is the first step.’
Aguero has missed five months since the start of 2014 with eight separate injuries, mainly muscular.
‘I know Sergio’s history and he was always out for months injured, added Guardiola.
‘So we’re going to try to control his condition after games.’