Guardiola claims City injuries are due to their success ahead of Forest (Full presser)

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola claims their large number of injuries are due to their success ahead of their Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest

Transcript

00:00 Good afternoon guys, hope you're well, same process as ever, mics on either side just so I know you'd like to ask a question.

00:05 And we'll set an embargo part way through for 10.30 this evening.

00:09 Afternoon Pep, hope you're well.

00:14 Steve Cooper has said Manchester City at the Etihad is the hardest game in world football.

00:22 What do you make of those comments and are you delighted that you've created that kind of environment here?

00:29 We'll see tomorrow.

00:31 It's a compliment, thank you so much Steve.

00:36 They were able to do an incredible game at Stamford Bridge and until the end they fought a lot against Arsenal away

00:46 and against United with 0-2 after a few minutes.

00:52 Last season we could not win there, we made an incredible good game, we missed a lot of chances,

00:58 we could not do it, so we cannot deny it, the last year and this year again,

01:04 so at home we feel good but tomorrow at 3pm we have to prove again.

01:10 You mentioned some of the achievements for Steve, what have you made of what he's done,

01:16 getting them promoted and reshaping that at Nottingham Forest?

01:19 Well the most important thing is the fact that when he took over the team last season,

01:23 two seasons ago in the Championship, it was not good at Nottingham Forest and after making a run,

01:29 he was promoted and they struggled all season but in the end they finished well,

01:33 with a lot of signs and said 'this is not easy' and they did it and this season it started really well,

01:40 so they make much more points than last season and at the end it's a physicality team,

01:47 well organised, the pace in the transitions are really, really high,

01:51 so just be careful in terms of, of course we are optimistic to do what we have to do with our people

01:59 and try to make the sixth win in a row.

02:02 You've highlighted the number of injuries, how important is this period going to be

02:08 for some of your young players to potentially step up and shine during this busy period

02:13 whilst you've got those key players out?

02:16 I've said many times in many years when young players in the squad training with us and ready to play

02:21 it's because we trust a lot of them, we rely on them and they can do whatever they want.

02:25 Apart from that, we need the injured players back because there are a lot of games

02:30 and we cannot play the same players for a long, long time and it's important to have them back.

02:34 Jack is coming back, he trained well and maybe will be for some minutes maybe ready

02:41 and Koba is, Mateu is almost, yeah in the last part of the recovery to coming back

02:50 but now we lost Bernardo for a few days and John and Kevin and you know, they are still out.

02:59 On Bernardo then, what is the diagnosis, how long do you expect him to be out for?

03:06 No, I have a little injury, it's nothing much, the clinical development is good

03:11 but I know one week, two weeks and he will be out.

03:17 Last season you seemed to be kind of OK on the injury front, I know you like to work with a smaller squad

03:23 this season at the start it's kind of all happened at once, is there a reason behind that?

03:29 There are a lot of games.

03:31 It is just overload of games, is it?

03:34 Absolutely, with less games, less injuries, a lot of games, a lot of seasons in a row

03:40 with not much rest, it's just that, we demand to the players a lot of effort, a lot of games

03:50 and sometimes they cannot sustain it and sometimes they are unlucky

03:53 so Jack was out in Sheffield with an incredible knock to his knee and that's football, it happens

04:00 but normally the muscular issues is a lot of games.

04:04 I know everyone talks about him at the minute, is there a more complete player in world football

04:10 right now than your own midfielder?

04:12 There is an exceptional midfielder, no doubt about that, he is exceptional.

04:18 He is complete or incomplete, I don't know.

04:25 If you win tomorrow it's 18 points from six games, which is better than the start last season

04:31 in the Premier League, how delighted and surprised have you been at the way your players

04:36 have started this season, bearing in mind we thought maybe there might be an after effect

04:41 of winning the treble?

04:42 When we arrived here seven, eight years ago we made 6-6, we finished third or fourth,

04:50 I don't remember, it's just the beginning, it's important to get points because the competition

04:58 is hard, the opponents, some of them don't miss much points but it's just the beginning.

05:04 It's important to get points, definitely.

05:07 Having had the experience of winning the treble, is this an easier squad to manage now this season?

05:14 Do they know what they have to do?

05:16 Almost all the squads were so easy to handle, the squads are really, really good, all of them.

05:23 The teams were really good, and the success that now belongs to success, the players of

05:28 the past, because we learn from them, we improve what we have done in the past,

05:33 so it's a consequence.

05:35 I'm not going to say this team is better than the previous one, and the previous one is better

05:40 than the previous, previous, previous one. Every team, the club, give it to me, to us,

05:48 the staff, the backroom, the manager, the staff, they've always been really good.

05:53 How impressed have you been with Alvarez? He seemed to be in and out last season,

05:58 this season you've played him in all five games so far, he's waited very patiently for his chance

06:03 and seems to be taking it with both hands.

06:06 Always have good behaviour, winning, playing, not playing, being world champion,

06:14 or being world champion, always has behaviour, on and off the pitch was the same, of course,

06:18 the perfect doses of, I would say, the perfect doses of disappointment for the play,

06:28 but you behave like that, always you have the opportunity.

06:31 Last season we had Ilkay and Kevin, sharp and a good moment, and right now for the circumstances

06:39 for the injuries or for whatever reason, had these minutes, and he gives a lot of good things to us,

06:45 and that's why he's playing. But he has to continue, many games, there will be games I will not play,

06:53 and be ready for that, and with a lot of games hopefully the players come back from the injuries

06:58 and everyone has to battle and fight for the best position and play the games.

07:03 Anything else before the embargo?

07:05 That's it for 10.30 this evening, somewhere to start.

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