Guardiola: City’s ambition makes it so difficult to blood youth
Foden and other academy stars facing ‘tough reality’ Manager says youngsters must respect the ‘process’
Pep Guardiola would love to unearth his own Class of ’92 at Manchester City, but he is wary of putting labels of that kind against his young players.
Guardiola famously introduced Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Pedro into his squad when he took over at Barcelona, so he knows all about the blend of combining local talents with stars gathered from far and wide.
That City are blessed with worldclass players is not in doubt, but it is a case of tapping into the academy for a new generation. And for the last 13 minutes of Manchester City’s routine FA Cup third-round victory over Port Vale last Saturday, there was a tantalising glimpse of a potential sky-blue future.
Phil Foden, 19, and 17-year-old Taylor Harwood-Bellis had both scored in the 4-1 win and were joined for a late cameo by Tommy Doyle, 18, as a substitute.
These three are blue to the core. That was shown by the sight of Harwood-Bellis and Doyle in the away end during Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final with neighbours United.
Guardiola had to smile at seeing that passion in his young charges, but he knows that the road from young promise to serious player is one filled with potential pitfalls.
“I would like to say yes [about having a Class of ’92], but I don’t know what is going to happen,” he said as he prepared his side for today’s Premier League game at Aston Villa.
“It is about how they develop to be better players. I would like to help the young players here in the same way as at Barcelona, but this is a club that is so demanding. It’s a reality that exceptional players like Phil Foden don’t play the minutes they should because we have other incredible players. When someone is really special and we think they can do it, they will have a chance.”
Every club are looking to produce their own golden nugget which can save them millions in the transfer market and will embody the club’s ethos. But with the biggest teams in Europe’s main leagues under the constant scrutiny of results, Guardiola believes it is hard for a very young player to emerge.
“It’s really difficult,” he said, “at important clubs in Europe where the demand is to win everything that one guy at 17, 18, 19 goes to the first team and plays every three days.
“I’m a big fan of respecting the process; we have a tendency after two games to say he will be the new Wayne Rooney, George Best, David Beckham. A little bit of time is needed to make them believe, ‘This is difficult’.
“The Carabao Cup is a fantastic competition to give them opportunities. You see these players and maybe they are not going to play here, but they can make a long career in another club and we would be so proud of that.”