Pep sends a signal by keeping Sane on the sidelines
PEP GUARDIOLA is giving Leroy Sane the tough-love approach in a bid to goad him back to the level of form that earned him last season’s PFA Young Player of the Year award.
The winger was expected to hit the ground running in this campaign after his shock omission from Germany’s World Cup squad, but it has not happened yet.
The demanding Guardiola is making a point. Sane was hauled off at half-time during the Community Shield win against Chelsea, was a substitute for City’s first three Premier League games – when he was given a combined 30 minutes of action – and was left out of the squad completely on Saturday when, significantly, Guardiola chose to include two centrebacks among his substitutes.
The word from Germany was that Joachim Low omitted Sane from his squad for Russia because he was not impressed with his attitude, although the coach has recalled him for this month’s international games.
Asked if he was happy with Sane’s attitude, Guardiola replied with an unconvincing “yeah” before adding: “I’m so
sad for Leroy now but we have a squad. Sometimes I have to leave players out.
“We have six attacking players and I decide to play with two strikers. We have two wingers plus another one on the bench.
“That’s why we decided for this game for Leroy: don’t be there, try to work hard again and in the next games he will be ready to play.
“He played for 10 to 12 minutes at Wolves and he tried. He was not precise but he tried. They know me, they [have to] convince me, I’m satisfied the moment they run and they do everything.
“Mistakes on the ball and taking decisions are part of the process. It’s no problem.”
But Guardiola is clearly using Sane to also make it clear to the rest of his title winners they will not be in the team if they drop their standards. City could have done with Sane at his best as they dominated possession against Newcastle but struggled to build on Raheem Sterling’s eighth-minute goal against a well-organised opposition.
DeAndre Yedlin raced half the length of the pitch past a City defence that had switched off to grab a shock equaliser and leave the Geordies level at the break.
But Kyle Walker’s 32yard screamer – his first goal for City and first for nearly three years – early in the second half settled it.
Newcastle have dropped into the bottom three after taking only one point from their first four games but the performances in 2-1 defeats by title contenders Tottenham, Chelsea and City have given manager Rafa Benitez encouragement.
“I cannot say that we are better than anyone but, if we work like today, we cannot be worse than anyone,” he said. “So we can beat and compete against anyone.”