Rashford absence not welcomed by Guardiola
Pep Guardiola claims he is disappointed Manchester City will not face Marcus Rashford in this afternoon’s derby.
Manchester United striker Rashford is sidelined with a back injury and will not get the chance to add to the four goals he has previously scored against City as the teams meet at Old Trafford.
The 22-year-old has been on target twice against City this season and his absence should make Guardiola’s planning easier.
Yet the City boss has looked beyond that and feels it is a shame he will not be involved in the Premier League clash.
He said: “I have always said since the first day I became a manager that I like to play against a full squad from my opponents.
“I would have loved to play against Eden Hazard at the Bernabeu. I don’t like to see Rashford out or Harry Kane against Tottenham. I prefer to play against top players and all the players available.
“So it is not good for United and he is absent for the national team. Hopefully he can recover as quickly as possible. I would have preferred if he had played for them.”
Guardiola says he does not know if it will now be easier to play against United because he knew Rashford would be out before he started planning.
He said: “At the moment I think about United and which players are available to play against us and after that I am not concerned any more. I don’t think even for a half second that he is not there.”
United, who are 15 points behind secondplaced City, but hoping to force their way into the top four, have been inconsistent this season. That has meant manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s performance has been under the spotlight at times.
The pressure, however, has eased of late with United unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions and Guardiola believes keeping faith with Solskjaer was the right decision. He said: “I didn’t expect, when I landed here, to have this gap right now with United. They are working to improve.
“Always I believe that the managers and the clubs need time to implant, to build something the manager and the club believe.
“Unfortunately the results sometimes lead to the decision to break that process, but what I feel is that people believe in Ole and I think he is doing a really good job.
“They create chances, they concede few, they have good keepers, good defenders and a bigger squad.
“So United, there is no doubt, all the time, every season, have good teams.”
Aaron Wan-bissaka believes United are making significant progress towards his goal of bringing more silverware to Old Trafford.
A first Premier League title since 2013 may be out of the question, but United face bottom side Norwich in the FA Cup quarterfinals and Austrian league leaders LASK in the last 16 of the Europa League. That is as a result of the club’s longest unbeaten run of the season – nine games – ahead of today’s Manchester derby as the battle for a top-four finish intensifies.
“I think we’re in a better position than when I joined,” Wan-bissaka said.
“We didn’t start off great, so I think we’re moving in the right direction now. I think we’re getting closer to reaching our target.
“I came to this club to win trophies and I know this team is capable of winning trophies. I think it’s a process. We’re going in the right direction.”
United won both the League Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017 and Wan-bissaka believes a first trophy under manager Solskjaer could be an important milestone.
He added: “I think that will help a lot, getting our hands on the first trophy. It will boost our confidence.”