Guardiola on Manchester City hammering Newcastle 4-0

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Guardiola on Manchester City hammering Newcastle 4-0  15/02/2025  Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Uk

Transcript

00:00Evening, guys, we're going to take a show of hands,

00:04we'll come to as many views as we can,

00:06and we'll set an embargo towards the end of 10.30 on Sunday evening.

00:09We'll start with Phil, please.

00:11Pep, congratulations.

00:13There was a lot of talk before the game about Isak against Haaland

00:17and the deadliest finishers in the Premier League going head-to-head today.

00:22Maybe you got another one there as well, from what Omar did?

00:26What were your comments on his performance?

00:28The highlight is for him, right?

00:30The three goals have to be with him.

00:34Yeah, so we knew it.

00:37In Germany, Nenthal and Frankfurt make good numbers,

00:41so against Orient had three clear chances, couldn't score,

00:44so we knew sooner or later when the dynamic of the group was good

00:47and the performance was good, he could show what he is.

00:51Hopefully he can handle the biggest compliments that are coming,

00:54because this is non-stop.

00:57While you obviously knew about his ability, that's not in any doubt,

01:00sometimes, or quite often, the problem can be adapting to a new culture,

01:04new country, new style, but he's certainly hit the ground running.

01:08It's so simple, the answer.

01:10When you play good, everyone adapts quick.

01:12When you don't play good, you need time.

01:16So it's not so much difficult to read, but he played against Chelsea here,

01:21played really good, we won here as well.

01:24Of course, he's a player that we miss, his movements in behind, his pace,

01:29normally we have the players to get the ball and the feet.

01:31He's a guy who likes to attack the space and help us to create more time,

01:37but when we play the way we play today, everyone is better.

01:41Even the manager.

01:43I've just got to ask you as well, if you had any reaction to yesterday's decision,

01:48ruling on the APT thing?

01:50No.

01:51Thanks, that's fine.

01:54Pep, when you sign someone like Mambus, what is it that you're looking for?

01:59Because sometimes it's seen in the first half of the season

02:02that the kind of emphasis has been on Erling to score all the goals,

02:07and clearly he's scored a lot of goals, so maybe he can take that away,

02:11or maybe the opposition defence has got to mark him as well as Erling.

02:16Is that part of it? What's the strategy?

02:19The Sport Director.

02:21It's the business for him.

02:23Chiqui said we need that player, I said OK.

02:28No, when Chiqui came to me and said we need that player,

02:32I said yeah, we are leaving this season,

02:34as many players you bring to the team better we'll be.

02:39We knew it, and what happened, I got some contacts in Germany

02:43because I have friends there, and I asked about him,

02:47and we have a high opinion on many things, in behaviour and training sessions,

02:51and of course in assists and goals, in the pace and everything.

02:56He's young, he comes here to make his career,

02:59and that's why the club, because always the club who decide at the end

03:05the last word, decide to do it.

03:09Hi Pep, just wanted to ask about Erling,

03:11he seems to have hurt his knee at the end, is he OK for Madrid?

03:15Well, when he's down, everyone was scared,

03:18but I think he stood up and he walked smiling like always.

03:23I didn't speak with him, I didn't speak with the doctors,

03:26but if the doctors didn't come from bad news, hopefully he will be fine.

03:31Just also on Edison, that's his third assist of the season,

03:33seventh for City overall, just how important is his ability with the ball,

03:40does that compensate for other aspects of his game,

03:43and is that sure how important it is to keep it?

03:45It depends, there are always men's threes when the keeper has the ball,

03:52and Newcastle defined really well how aggressive they are in high pressing,

03:57and how tight and compact it is deep,

04:00and we saw with the pace that maybe in the past we still have up front,

04:03but we feel Omar and Erling, when you can win that duel in the space

04:09and the ball comes in the position, it's one against one with 30-40 metres.

04:13And Edison is the best in the world in these kinds of situations,

04:17and look at yesterday's action, I saw the Brighton with Mitoma,

04:22it's a long ball, it's one against one, you win the duel and do it.

04:27But Edison has done in the past with Sergio, I remember one game against,

04:33I don't remember the game, here, the neighbours, I don't remember the team.

04:39He made an assist as well, so when the team defend, we can do it.

04:44But we need the pass, we need the movement, we need many things,

04:47and today we have it.

04:51Hi Pep, we were talking a lot yesterday about the problems that the team's got,

04:55and how difficult the game would be today,

04:57so what was it that went so well for your team today?

05:01I would like to tell you a secret why,

05:03because after that you will ask me why we didn't do it before.

05:07Our intention was to do it, but it didn't work.

05:10I don't know, I think the presence of Nico helped us a lot,

05:14because these 10 balls, the 50-50,

05:16if he wins 7 you can run, if you lose 7, they will run.

05:20I think I had the feeling that the club contacted and bought an incredible player

05:27for the future in terms of mentality.

05:29I think he was in Barcelona Academy,

05:31and Barcelona Academy shows you the best in the world,

05:35how they teach you the concepts, the body shapes, the pass, the ball, the tennis.

05:39But I think in Porto Sergio Gonzalez helped us a lot to bring in his football

05:45the part of being aggressive and being smart,

05:48and how to play different types of games.

05:50He's so young, 23.

05:52I remember like a mini-Rodri, it's a big compliment,

05:56but he's had the feeling for the present,

05:58the big, you know, that have the duels,

06:00and the other one, of course, he's miles away from Rodri,

06:02but Rodri is the best.

06:04But, of course, I had the feeling, everyone had the feeling,

06:07his mates, that he's going to help us as part of the season,

06:10his presence, the long balls and backwards,

06:13and these kind of things with Rodri was really important.

06:16Of course, the energy for the new, the guys up front,

06:19close to Erling, guys like one against one, two against one,

06:22shoot right to the box.

06:24Many things for the players that help us, you know,

06:27to give this energy, the pace from Kusanov,

06:30his mega transitions and his pace behind.

06:33That's why we bought him, he's unstoppable,

06:35because he's so fast, he's so young,

06:37he's still too much aggressive, always in the duels,

06:39he goes to win the ball,

06:41sometimes when you don't win the ball, it's a transition.

06:43But it's a question of time, he will learn.

06:46But he adapted to the group really well,

06:49so, yeah, that's why many of these kind of things help Savio.

06:53You know, the impact on Savio for the first season in England,

06:55how many goals, how many assists,

06:57the impact has been, I wasn't expecting.

06:59I knew from Girona that he was a top, top player,

07:02but I didn't expect, you know, the influence

07:04that he had in our game since he arrived,

07:08and hopefully we can be calm,

07:10because this season is just to survive, we will survive,

07:15but hopefully this game can give us this boost

07:19to trust in ourselves that we were able to do,

07:22and still we are able to do.

07:25And for the rest of the season, it's massively important.

07:28Can I just ask about Haaland as well, because he was captain.

07:30Was there a new vote about captains after Karl Walker left?

07:33Yeah, when Kyle left, Kevin became the first,

07:40it was one back-end, and I nominated, not them,

07:42I nominated Erling to be a captain,

07:44because when one player will be 10 years here,

07:47hopefully it will be 10 years,

07:49sooner or later you take a separate responsibility,

07:51or what does it mean, better will be in the future,

07:54so sooner or later, per question of time,

07:56Erling will be.

07:58And it's nice that the first time in the Premier League,

08:02I think it happened from the beginning,

08:04get a good result is just a gesture,

08:07it's not important, but at the same time it is.

08:10Sam, for the embargo?

08:12No, before you, you and then the embargo.

08:16Pep, just going back to what you said about Gonzalez,

08:19he's obviously come through the same system that you came through,

08:22how did you, did Chiqui just bring him to your attention,

08:25or did you check your own contacts with him,

08:28and find out about him?

08:29I knew it, listen, I knew it from Barcelona,

08:32I was already I think in Munich,

08:34I was not there, but the rumour was always

08:36that I'm being contacted by someone at the academy,

08:38this player, this player,

08:39and in his generation he was one of the best,

08:41and Chiqui tried to bring him a long, long time ago,

08:44when he was in the academy, but it was not possible,

08:46because of course we had Fernandinho, we had Rodri,

08:50and thinking maybe he came to go to the academy,

08:53so one player for the academy of Barcelona,

08:56come for the academy for City, it's better to stay in Barcelona.

08:59But after, you know, Barcelona could play,

09:02but at the end it was a gap,

09:04like it was important players there,

09:06like could not play, or Valencia, or Porto,

09:08but always was there, in the radar, right?

09:10The club always had him, and after the options,

09:12and in this season we struggled in that position,

09:14we had options, and after this side,

09:17we discussed many times that we need a role there,

09:20a central defender, not like Rodri,

09:22impossible, but in terms, not quite similar neither,

09:25but, you know, this presence in the Premier League

09:28is inevitable, you have to, you know, to have,

09:32and at the end the club made an incredible effort

09:35to bring him here,

09:37and when we saw the 20 minutes in Orien,

09:39in the FA Cup, and today,

09:41with just 23 years old,

09:43it's not how you could see the place,

09:45you know, how he talked, the personality,

09:47it was a moment that was correcting Erling,

09:50you know, doing this, doing that,

09:52and when that happens, it's nice, you know,

09:56because you say, okay, in the next six, seven years,

09:58we'll have Rodri, we'll have him,

10:01and that will give us, you know,

10:04more presence, more stability,

10:07like this season, of course, we miss it.

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