‘ANGRY’ PEP READS RIOT ACT TO CITY
Manager demands more despite three-goal victory over Fulham
ANGRY. A strong word. Imagine a champion saying that, just four months after lifting the Premier League title and with 13 points from five games of his subsequent defence.
Well, that is what we have here. Pep Guardiola is spitting and wants his Manchester City players to know it. He claims they are far from being perfect.
This came after they had won by three clear goals against Fulham.
Guardiola raged: “I am angry. I am upset with my players and they know that.
“Lose the dribbling, it doesn’t matter, but control the ball and pass the ball simple… miss that, there was lots of that.”
It sounds almost preposterous, but he is not kidding.
There is such purpose to Guardiola’s voice this season and that was felt on Saturday when his squad sat down inside a training ground auditorium to study the match tape.
They listened intently as he demanded improvement and requested the basics be performed with more urgency.
To say City might have scored six or seven against Fulham is not an exaggeration.
Marcus Bettinelli, the Fulham goalkeeper, said he was pleased to keep the score down. City’s finishing touch eluded them at times, particularly when Bernardo Silva blazed over the bar.
Guardiola — who watched the majority of Liverpool’s win at Tottenham before kick-off — did reserve special praise for the undisputed man of the match, though.
Bernardo sneaked under the radar last year but still pitched in with nine goals.
He is fast becoming a favourite at the Etihad, and here he ran the game from midfield. At one point he carried possession on his nose like a sea lion. He looks every bit David Silva’s heir.
“He is the most loved guy in the locker room,” Guardiola said. “Last season he played three minutes from the bench and when he plays three minutes from the bench, he plays the best he can play.
“Sometimes there are players, and all the managers know this, that you give five minutes and they say, “Oh, now I have to play five minutes”. He is not that player.
“When he plays five minutes he plays the best possible, always a smile to help. He can fight. He is skinny, small, but he is ‘wow’.”
Some are not, though, and it is irking Guardiola, who was missing Benjamin Mendy with a knee injury. Worry is not consuming him but there remains irritation.
That much is clear watching him on the touchline after errant passes are played.
City believe the rhythm will return and they are already looking ahead to their date with Liverpool on Oct 7. More immediate is tomorrow’s Champions League clash at home to Lyon.
“After 100 points and after what we have done, after you win, you change your mind a little bit,” Guardiola said.
And ominously for City’s rivals, he added: “Now we start.”