Pep talk stirred us, says Sane

MANCHESTER CITY were woken up by an animated Pep Guardiola during half-time of yesterday’s victory at Huddersfield. Guardiola was frustrated by the performance of the champions in the opening 45 minutes and told them in no uncertain terms that they had fallen way short of what he demands. City were a goal ahead after Christopher Schindler had deflected a Danilo shot into his own net, but Leroy Sane revealed the City boss made his displeasure known. ‘He woke us up a bit to play our game quicker and better and help us find where the space is,’ said Sane. ‘The boss said that we can’t play the way we were playing and that we had to get better. In the second half, everyone could definitely see we were quicker and better in important positions and controlled the game.’ Guardiola was worried about City’s ball retention and 17 per cent of first-half touches resulted in the loss of possession. The manager also suggested they had to play with more urgency. ‘The way we played, we didn’t deserve more than three goals,’ said Guardiola. ‘We will improve. We have to demand more from ourselves.’ Huddersfield — who have scored only 13 goals in 23 league games — were incapable of taking advantage. ‘We stuck to the gameplan,’ said Huddersfield caretaker Mark Hudson. ‘If it wasn’t for the deflected goal, we could have stayed in it longer.’ Hudson took charge after the departure of David Wagner, and Huddersfield have approached Dortmund’s Under 23 coach Jan Siewert. Wagner sent a message to the supporters, beamed on to the big screens at the John Smith’s Stadium. ‘You made this place a home for me,’ said Wagner. ‘It is because of you and the atmosphere you created.’