We’d already written up the Scout Notes for Manchester City’s win over Brentford but the second part of Pep Guardiola’s post-match press conference was released from embargo on Sunday night.
And there were a few notable quotes for Fantasy managers from the City boss, with another Double Gameweek 36 fixture imminent.
KEY QUOTES FROM PEP’S PRESSER
The stand-out comments concerned the prospect of rotation. It’s not something that has been much of an issue over the last two months or so, with Guardiola favouring a settled side.
But City now have the following schedule ahead of them:
- Wednesday 13 May: Crystal Palace (h)
- Saturday 16 May: Chelsea – FA Cup final (n)
- Tuesday 19 May: Bournemouth (a)
- Sunday 24 May: Aston Villa (h)
Asked about the importance of having players like Phil Foden (£8.0m), Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) and Mateo Kovacic (£5.8m) coming off the bench to contribute, Guardiola hinted at rotation.
He didn’t specify the Palace match, and it’s worth mentioning that his last major round of rotation came in the FA Cup semi-final.
But said cup competition may now represent City’s best chance of winning a(nother) trophy. Guardiola, perhaps significantly, said that he’d wait to see the result of Arsenal’s match before proceeding with team selection decisions. Does that mean that, now the Gunners have won, he’s half-conceding the league title? Arsenal, after all, have relegated Burnley and a pre-Conference-League-final Palace to come in the final two Gameweeks.
“I know it’s not easy for them but I’m pretty sure the next games, they are going to play and I’m going to rotate the team because otherwise we cannot arrive at the final or Bournemouth [in good shape]. We’ll see the result [of the West Ham v Arsenal game] and after, we take a decision.” – Pep Guardiola on how important the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush are
Guardiola then went on to praise Marmoush in particular. It was the Egyptian who came on for Rayan Cherki (£6.6m) on Saturday, to offer Erling Haaland (£14.7m) more penalty-box support.
“Especially Omar. So, it’s not easy because normally we play with just one striker. He’s a proper striker and Erling is there. Erling, I think, is so important for us. But the contribution of Omar, always [when] he played, the amount of goals and the rate for the minutes he played is so high. So it’s really good.” – Pep Guardiola on whether Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush have given him a selection headache after their contributions off the bench
The City head coach then repeated the importance of having a fit squad and fresh legs. Indeed, Jeremy Doku (£6.5m) scored his side’s opening goal on Saturday, a minute after Foden and Marmoush came on.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Okay, I made the substitution, one minute [later], Jeremy put the ball in the net’. But we want energy and Omar gave us the energy and Phil gave us that. You need everyone. As much as you are fit, you can do it.” – Pep Guardiola on the importance of fresh legs
In more positive quotes for Marmoush and Foden, Guardiola repeated the importance of offering Haaland help with the goalscoring burden.
“Erling always is Erling – a threat for the opponent, set pieces, a sense of goal. Erling, we just have to bring more players close to him when they arrive from the side, have to bring more players there because after that, he will score more and more goals. When he’s alone in the box, it’s so difficult for him to score because the [defenders are] there.” – Pep Guardiola
We should hopefully hear from Guardiola again on Tuesday, ahead of the visit of Palace.
