Make mine a Treble, says Guardiola as it’s three & easy for City and Mahrez
AS Riyad Mahrez clipped in the third goal of his hat-trick, Pep Guardiola celebrated and then turned to his staff with a fingerpoint and a look that suggested he knows.
He knows the Treble is more than the outside possibility he claims it is. He knows he has a stable of world-class support acts for world-class starters. He knows this is a stellar squad pulling – after Joao Cancelo was sent packing – in the same direction. He knows he can manage his resources to good effect… because he has so many good players. Mahrez is the ultimate poster boy for Guardiola’s management skills and coaching acumen. At any other club he is an automatic starter, but Guardiola not only used him sparingly at the start of the season, he publicly called out his fitness and attitude.
After the World Cup break, he got the response he wanted, but Guardiola was particularly careful with his level of praise for the Algerian. Pep keeps them hungry.
After not seeing a minute of action across the two legs of the Champions League tie with Bayern Munich, Mahrez came into this contest famished.
And it turned into a bit of a buffet for Mahrez, helping himself to a firsthalf penalty before carving open the Blades defence and then converting Jack Grealish’s assist for his third.
In the context of pursuing triumph on three fronts, this could hardly have gone better for Guardiola.
In the bowels of the Allianz Arena, as Wednesday turned into Thursday, he was at pains to point out that his men were “exhausted”.
Those on duty in Germany certainly put in a shift, but right now not only does the City manager have a strong squad, he also has a squad that is almost injury-free.
With the game against Arsenal coming up on Wednesday, Guardiola was always going to make a few changes and it was something of a surprise to see Erling Haaland start.
It was, perhaps, not as surprising to see Kalvin Phillips STILL on the bench.
Phillips got a token 25-minute run-out. It seems he is good enough for England, but not good enough for Manchester City.
Such is the plethora of talent on the Etihad books, there is no shame in that, so credit to Sheffield United for putting up early stern resistance. For 40 minutes, they negotiated the challenge with some ease, but all that sterling work was undone when Daniel Jebbison lost his bearings and scythed down Bernardo Silva.
After his first penalty miss in 16 attempts, Haaland handed duties to Mahrez and he obliged with undue fuss.
And that was pretty much that, Mahrez confirming City’s passage to the final on June 3 with two from open play in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
That allowed Guardiola to get some much-needed minutes into the legs of Phillips, Rico Lewis, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer and give Grealish and Haaland an early cut. Julian
Alvarez, one of those world-class support acts, should have made the victory even more emphatic, but it really did not matter and Sheffield United did not deserve to be embarrassed. For them, the real cup final comes on Wednesday when a win over West Brom at Bramall Lane will earn promotion to the Premier League. The only downside of that scenario is that next season they will have to play Manchester City again – twice. And they could be playing the champions of England, champions of Europe and the FA Cup holders. It is probably still odds against City doing the treble, but, regardless of what the manager says, it is no outside possibility. And Pep knows.