Under 18s fall to shock Toffees loss
PEP RECALLS ANGUISH OF LOSING TO LYON LAST YEAR
CITY Under-18s manager Carlos Vicens hopes his young players will use their shock 1-0 defeat to Everton to ‘grow and improve.’
City’s defence of the FA Youth Cup came to a surprise end on Saturday after they were dumped out of the competition in the fourth round by the Toffees.
It came in agonising fashion as the Blues dominated the game and had plenty of chances to score but were undone as Everton grabbed a 97th minute winner, pulling off a massive smash and grab.
The defeat came just a day after Pep Guardiola had name checked the likes of Liam Delap and James McAtee as ‘interesting’ players in the academy that could help fill the gap that will be left by the departing Sergio Aguero next season.
Vicens believes that the players will learn from the game and it will serve them well when and if Guardiola calls upon them.
“I think every game is an experience,” Vicens said. “Every game when you play for Man City you are the favourites on the pitch so you have the pressure to perform and to win and it’s something that we’ll learn from. I think it’s a good experience.
“They will be annoyed, frustrated but at the end of the day in their careers hopefully they will use this as experience to grow and improve from.
“We need to understand and I told them as well after the game that in football even though you play for City you will not always win. They are very used to winning because, you see the table and the results of this season of both squads, we’ve been very successful but this is part of football, this is part of sport.
“We have a philosophy in the club and we try to help the players perform in a way that when Pep needs them or Enzo [Maresca] needs them they are ready to perform at those levels. We are here to provide players for the first team. Though we do it in a way that when they go up they are used to playing the way we play in this club. I think it’s what we do and what we try to help the players with. Callum [Doyle] is an example but you could pick any player, any position and you’ll see what we try to do with these players is help them to be ready for that challenge.”
PEP Guardiola says the pain of last year’s Champions League exit remained in his head for weeks afterwards.
City were strong favourites to beat Lyon in the quarter-final, after disposing of Real Madrid to reach the finals tournament, staged in Lisbon in August.
The French side had trailed in seventh in their domestic league while the Blues had finished a disappointing campaign strongly to come second and win the Carabao Cup.
PEP Guardiola is hopeful on the Etihad pitch as City aim to make the most of their home advantage in the Champions League.
Both legs of their last-16 clash against Borussia Monchengladbach were played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest as a result of coronavirus
But Guardiola’s tinkering with the team, playing an unfamiliar three at the back system, and a poor display from key players - including an open-goal miss from Raheem Sterling - contributed to a dismal 3-1 defeat.
The players had little time to dwell on the matter, as the new season began just four weeks later, giving them just a week of pre-season training after the obligatory threeweek break. restrictions, and the limits have carried on into the quarter-final stage; Chelsea’s tie with Porto will take place in Sevilla later this month.
City and Dortmund were given the green light to host each other at their usual stadiums, though, adding to their home advantage and reducing travel. Guardiola’s side will only clock up 872 air-miles for their last-eight clash, as opposed to 4,120 if both games were again in
But the manager said that the hurt stayed with him for some time following the shock loss at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
“Of course, it remained in my head for weeks and it was painful, I cannot deny,” he said, as the Blues rev up for this season’s quarterfinal, with Borussia Dortmund due at the Etihad Stadium tonight.
“It was the last game of the season, we wanted to go through and we accept we didn’t do it well, didn’t deserve to go through. Yes it was painful but the short time... ten days, we woke up and prepared for the next season, and here we are again, to try again.
“Going out to Lyon, it’s different. We went out, said goodbye and went on holidays, it was a disappointment - but we are here again.”
Of course, it remained in my head for weeks and it was painful, I cannot deny
Pep Guardiola
Budapest, and that extra freshness will be vital in the chase for four competitions.
How much the Blues can benefit from playing in their own stadium may depend on the state of the grass, though. Guardiola and the players were openly critical of the pitch before the international break, claiming that it didn’t allow them to carry out their gameplan as they wanted to.
City have repeatedly been edged out in the knockout phase of the competition under Guardiola, but the manager says last season’s defeat has no bearing on this game, with City conceding just one goal in the eight games they have already played in the competition. “Everyone in this club - not just in this club, all the clubs in this competition - want to go through but you know one thing is what we won, you have to show it on the grass and the opponents have to be beaten, like we’ve done this season.
“I want to be honest. I’ve prepared for this like I prepared for Everton in the FA Cup, all the Premier League games, over three, four months. “It takes a bit longer as the players don’t know them as much, but we try to win the game, not how many goals we score or concede. As much as we want to win, they do too, it’s no more complicated.
“It looks nicer or special as a competition but it’s the same as the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and we approach it in the same way.”
With no fixture there since March 10, City’s manager has been told that conditions are better.
“The people told me the pitch is getting better, springtime is here so hopefully the grass will be better,” he said. “Of course I want to play here at home, but if we had had to go back to Budapest we’d have been pleased. That was fantastic, the pitch was one of the best pitches we have ever played on.”