JUST PRAY FER OUR TITLE CHANCES
PEP GUARDIOLA has saluted his band of serial senior winners – and prays that Fernandinho stays fit to fight on four fronts.
The nail-biting victory over Liverpool at a bouncing Etihad Stadium kept Manchester City hot on the heels of the Premier League leaders.
Today, the attention turns to the FA Cup and the third-round tie against Rotherham, again on home soil.
Then on Wednesday, City entertain Burton in the Carabao Cup Semi-Final first leg before the return of the Champions League next month.
That four-midable target is a task for seasoned players – and Guardiola believes he has got them in the shape of Fernandinho, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi.
Guardiola, himself, is exhausted by the intensity of City’s demanding schedule and jokes he would love to rest on a sunbed for the next two months.
But the flip-flops are for another day.
Right now, all that matters is keeping a winner-takes-all mentality.
Guardiola said: “Yes, I would love to have two months holiday right now. This month was really tough but it is what it is.
“If you want to be a top, top club for organisation you cannot deny any game or drop any competition.
“Important players make the difference and I have a lot of respect for the players who every single year – 10, 11 years – do that. It is what I respect the most.
“Everyone can have an exceptional season, good moments, six months.
“But players like
Vincent, like David, like
Sergio, like Otamendi, every single year they are there competing with the desire to get more and more and more.
“Winning is so addictive that when you taste it you say, ‘Wow, I want more of that’. When you win, you want more. Today we spoke about that. It was a final for us against Liverpool.”
Guardiola handed even more plaudits to two of his main warriors, Fernandinho and midweek goalscorer Aguero, who at 33 and 30 respectively are rolling back the years.
He added: “We miss Fernandinho when he’s not there, definitely. With Fernandinho’s specific quality we don’t have a replacement for him, his duels. He is an incredible player and he is so important for us.
“He showed it again. So, pray for him to be fit for as long as possible. And we need Sergio in these kind of games too.
“In these matches, this kind of player always shows he is here. We needed him and he responded incredibly. He won the headed duels with Dejan Lovren and sometimes fought with Virgil van Dijk.”
Guardiola is banking on his big players to help City KO Rotherham today as he stressed the importance of the FA Cup to him as the one domestic trophy to elude him since coming to England.
“In these games, important players make the difference and he did. Maybe it’s going to help us when we play in the knockout games because he has these incredible knockout numbers.
“We are going to play the next game like a final knowing that if we go through we are out for the second most important competition here in England – and that is going to happen.
“The Premier League in December and January is so tough and demanding for everybody so we are not special like that.
“But we have a big enough squad. Kevin De Bruyne is coming back. Ilkay Gundogan is back. Everybody is going to rotate and everybody is going to play. It’s the only way.
“When you talk about the difference between the Champions League and the Premier League, the difference is the quality of the players. The opponents are so good.
“They don’t need anything to score a goal and create chances. You have to live the game like it is the last game in our lives. If you don’t, you cannot compete in these kinds of games.”
Man City v Rotherham Today, 2pm