Guardiola refusing to rule out loan market to ease City ongoing injury crisis (Full Presser part two)

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is refusing to rule out loan market to ease City ongoing injury crisis  03/01/2025  CFGA, Manchester, UK

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00:00You were able to give the players a little bit of time off this week, how much was that

00:09sort of needed after the schedule they've had?

00:12But the schedule is what it is, we could not play on 31st and 1st, so yeah, they were with

00:18the families and come back yesterday, today and ready for tomorrow.

00:21Do you feel like a lot of them needed a break?

00:24You know, there's been some sort of fatigue?

00:26We need good results, it's better to have a break, of course a break is better with

00:31the result, I know we talk about that, we are really pleased with the result because

00:35in the end it changed many things, but we have to improve.

00:42The TV picked up you having a bit of a moment with the fans after the Leicester game, was

00:47that a nice special moment for you?

00:49No, it's happened since I arrived in our homes, the people love me so much.

00:59After Leicester, you just mentioned that you felt that you could have reacted differently

01:05yourself to the situation in the last couple of months, you said you yourself could have

01:12done, could you elaborate on that?

01:15No, many things, many things.

01:21From the training ground?

01:23From many things, the manager is not just four in the back, five in the back, three

01:28strikers, two strikers, there are many, many things.

01:31What I said weeks ago, something I miss, something I haven't done in a while, because

01:41at the end when you lose a lot of games, it's an incredible responsibility for the

01:47manager to take something that the team leaves in the conference and I was not able to do

01:54it.

01:55OK, we got the result, but not more than that.

02:01Listen, all of us, first and second, me first and after all of us, we know our level.

02:09When I said how is the team, comparing what they did in the last eight years, we are not

02:14there.

02:15So, I'm not denying myself the result is going to change my perspective that how is the team

02:23right now, but at the same time hopefully we can, the results can help us to have more

02:32belief in the results, have more composure in many, many things, but this is what we

02:40have to do.

02:41I know you said you don't want to sign players for the sake of signing them, but does this

02:47squad, do you really need it as a necessity?

02:52In some positions, yes, but what I'm saying, one target is he came for loan for six months,

02:59it can help us in that period, of course it is completely different when you have to

03:03sign the players for the next many years, and that is not because now we are in that

03:10position.

03:11In that moment, no, we want to try to have players, but I don't know what's going to

03:20happen because the market has started now and I don't know what will happen until the

03:24end, and many things maybe can happen.

03:27Just following on from what Mike was saying, obviously January is a really difficult window,

03:33if you could only sign one player this month, what position do you think you really need?

03:41I would say, I think it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if we can't adjust, there

03:47are some players in different positions, so as much as what I want is that the players

03:51are fit, get the best level of them, because I said to them many times, so I know your

03:57level, because I was with you every three days, having a game during eight years, and

04:04I know your level, and we need that level, and we didn't have that level, and that's

04:10why this is one of the most important things for the injuries and for the players that

04:13are fit, this is what I'm looking for.

04:15And after that, the market will come and play, but we need players in different positions

04:20because we had a lot of injuries, and that's why, and these injuries is again and again

04:26and again, and that's why we have to take a look, but the market is not easy, and right

04:33now I'm thinking, I don't know what's going to happen.

04:37You just talked about the last two months before, how difficult is it as a manager,

04:44who's managed these players for so many years, and they've given you such good performances,

04:49how difficult is it to make big calls on certain individuals with their performances because

04:55of what they've done for you in the past?

04:59No, it's not the phone calls, we have done it, so it's not now I realise the situation

05:05it was in the past, but the phone call is for myself first, so I'm unbelievably honest

05:10with myself, and I know the reason why we arrived, and the main, main reason is me.

05:14It's not the players, it's the players morally, with this natural drop a little bit, it's

05:19normal, it's normal, it happened even last season as well.

05:22But with this consistency, I should have fined, I should have acted differently, and it didn't

05:27happen, and that's why we're in this position.

05:29I blame, I blame, it's not to say, oh how nice is Pep, no, it's the truth.

05:35So I leave that group of players, and I cannot leave them so far, and this is the reality.

05:41Why in the past they follow me, or it happened, no, follow me, but I think it happened now,

05:47they were able to get results, and okay, let's go, let's do it, and immediately, so as I

05:52said, one month, a half, two months, we were the only unbeaten team in England, in England,

05:56Europe, you know, it was top of the league, and immediately we were down, it can happen,

06:01it can happen, but I was not able, for injuries, for many, we talk about that, but even with

06:06that, I should have find a way to get better results.

06:12Hopefully we can continue now, where we started in Leicester, performing better.

06:18You've spoken about how difficult it is to kind of get in the players' heads, but it's

06:22something you've been able to do for years, they've been winning everything in sight,

06:26has it been different since they've stopped winning so many games?

06:33No, I tried, I tried, but in the end, everybody has to do it, I tried, of course I tried,

06:42to find the way, you know, to be more consistent, to make mistakes, and other mistakes, and

06:47other mistakes, and the injuries was a part of the influence, but the other ones, there

06:51is another issue, we were not able to do it.

06:54And have you stuck to what you know, for how the players are motivated?

07:00No, we have to play better, so it's easy for me, we don't run, we don't fight, when you

07:08lose all the time, all the managers, we don't have spirit, we don't have character, we don't

07:12have this kind of stuff, how do you measure that?

07:16I measure that we don't play good, and we sustained in the past, our level and consistency

07:22in how we were playing, and the control in many aspects of the game, and the reason why

07:27mainly we didn't win, because we didn't play good, because we are not a team to make incredible

07:33runs, or transitions, or physicality, never have done, I said many times, we play with

07:38the players in the past, like you are not strong box to box players, and this kind of

07:43stuff, and we handle it, so the main reason is, and for the play good, there are a lot

07:49of aspects of course in the mind to say, focus and what you have to do, and that is what

07:55we miss this part of the season, we have to recover our game, because we were like in

08:01Leicester, it happened, spirit and run and desire, of course, but I know our level because

08:08I saw it here, in front of my eyes during many, many, many years, and I'm going to deny

08:13myself the players, and I'm going to deny myself the reality, I said how good is the

08:18Boer win, we won one game, we could win against Everton, we played better, we didn't win against

08:25United, we were close, we were in our best, but we had incredible good parts, good games

08:31in Lisbon in the Champions League, and we lost 4-1, and we played really, really good

08:38there in the first half, it was 4-0-3, 0-1-3, and there are a lot of examples that were

08:44not in parts, but it's football, sometimes you need a change and something, the mind

08:51had to recover some aspects, and the team, you know, lived, and this is what I need right

08:57now, and that's why the victory in Leicester was really, really important, I'm not denying

09:01that.

09:03Hi Pep, obviously you're talking about you've made mistakes, do the players tell you when

09:11you've made a mistake?

09:12Sorry?

09:13Do the players tell you when they think you've made a mistake with tactics or anything?

09:17No.

09:18No.

09:19What would happen if a player did?

09:20Excuse me, not about tactics.

09:22But tactics or...

09:24Ah, they can think it, yeah, of course they can think it.

09:27Do they ever come to you and express their opinions?

09:30Yeah, I spoke with them personally in group, yeah, many, many times, but they are concerned.

09:35Of course they want to be the first.

09:37Do the players and you agree what the problems are?

09:40They give my opinion, but I know, the diagnosis I know perfectly, I know it.

09:45And they do now as well?

09:46Sorry?

09:47And they do now as well?

09:48They?

09:49The players know as well now?

09:51They'll have to play better, but what happened is the past, they'll have to play better,

09:55this is the point.

09:57Thank you guys.

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