ABSENT SANE HAS TO GRASP PEP MESSAGE
City boss turns up the heat on his champions
Leroy Sane lounged up in the posh boxes, his feet planted on the leather seat in front of him. There appeared a nonchalance to his demeanour but Pep Guardiola’s decision to leave him sitting and watching this victory should provoke a response.
The Spaniard dropped the PFA young Player of the year because he was concerned over his performances in training. Sane will have to stew on this during the international break.
a fortnight ago the Manchester City manager claimed that Sane — who was omitted from Germany’s World Cup squad — was fresh and firing. His decision to drop the forward was purposefully transparent. Sane has certainly worried some at the City Football academy.
Man-management is a strength of Guardiola’s and the Premier League champions will need to lean on that this season if they are to become the first team in a decade to successfully defend the title.
If ever Guardiola’s proclamation of ‘if you need to hate me, hate me,’ rings true it is now with Sane, who has lacked the intensity and desire that the City boss craves.
So the 22- year- old sat and watched. It is as strong a message as a manager can deliver; turn up or you are not involved. Gabriel Jesus has certainly got the memo. ‘I’m going to work hard to avoid that from happening to me,’ said the Brazilian striker. ‘We all know the quality Sane has, his importance in the club.
‘But it’s the beginning of the season, it’s normal that some players have started stronger or are more fit than others. I just hope when he comes back to the team he is at 100 per cent and he’s able to help us as he’s always done.’
Guardiola is mindful of the characters he must mentor. Benjamin Mendy, who again showcased everything exhilarating and everything bewildering about his talent, has felt the eye upon him.
The left back was recently fined for turning up late to training. He has also been advised that moving out of his city centre apartment and settling in Cheshire is a good idea, alleviating tantalising distractions. Mindset is almost as crucial as tactical nuances now.
as good as City can be they are no good without focus and that is why Guardiola has constantly warned against complacency.
‘The last passes were not good or not clever,’ he said after Kyle Walker’s stunning 32-yard thunderbolt eased newcastle aside. They are not quite clicking, not quite there yet, although they still have 10 points from four matches.
‘We have the same points as this time last season,’ added Guardiola. ‘We want to be at our best level but I am so surprised at what happened last season. you never know how you’re going to react when coming back in terms of consistency.
‘We beat Chelsea in the Community Shield and in general over the four games we were better than the four teams.’
raheem Sterling, scorer of the opener, has definitely picked up where he left off. The 23-year-old was on the bench against Huddersfield last month but his commitment in training never waned. That after a World Cup during which he was heavily criticised.
John Stones believes Sterling’s contribution to england reaching the last four was wilfully overlooked. ‘raz was unbelievable at the World Cup,’ Stones said. ‘I know he got a lot of negativity towards him but what he brought to the team . . . he terrorised defences and it got overshadowed.
‘I was upset for raheem because what he brings to this team, as we saw with his goal against newcastle, is immense.
‘and it’s not just about goals, he creates chances, takes on his full back — he does everything right and more, and I hope that one goes in when he is with england so that is that and we can put it to bed.’
newcastle were not put to bed. They equalised after Sterling’s stunner through Deandre yedlin — Mendy caught napping on the break — and looked defensively sound despite having only 22 per cent of the ball.
Jamaal Lascelles — playing on the right of three central defenders — gifted possession away for Sterling’s goal and rafa Benitez must be lamenting his side’s inability to keep the ball. Perhaps that was one of the points he made to Guardiola as the pair shared an animated four-and-a-half minute conversation in the tunnel afterwards.
‘Sometimes you don’t need to do too much (tactically),’ Benitez said, pointing to their rigid 5-4-1 formation. ‘you have to try to do the right things all the time. you will make mistakes because it depends on players in the end.
‘you can make the right decision but a player can still make a mistake. People will blame the manager, fine, fair enough.
‘at the moment you see they (City) are at another level and you have to try to go as close as possible in one game. To win against them, everything has to be right for you and they have to have some mistakes. That was not the case.’