Guardiola reluctant to play academy side against Newcastle despite injury list (Full presser part two)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola reluctant to play academy side against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup third round despite a growing injury list
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00:00 With this competition itself, in the latter stages, two-legged semi-final, you won it
00:07 so many times, but does it take a lot out of the squad and does that impact on the Champions
00:16 League and other competitions?
00:22 What I said, this competition in this first round, second round, is perfect when you have
00:27 a squad ready that's perfect. Perfect. Because if you players don't play, you can't win.
00:33 But in the situation you have, you have to approach differently and prioritise other
00:41 things. What we want to try to do is perform bad, or perform not how we are in terms of
00:47 the principles and who we are as a team. Like it happened last season against Southampton,
00:51 the worst game I played being manager for Man City, by far. I didn't recognise anything
01:00 about that. You can lose, of course you can lose. Full credit to Southampton in that game,
01:05 but you have to be a minimum. And this is only I want in my team every single game and
01:09 every single competition. And tomorrow is going to happen, I'm pretty sure of that.
01:13 But Kyle Walker is exhausted. He's played with us, played 90 minutes and 90 minutes
01:21 and now lately he's played up and down, up and down. It's like a full-back, you know?
01:26 Before it was a full-back, more control in the middle. So the energy, he's spent a lot
01:31 of energy, so he has to rest. Otherwise he will be out for a week. We don't want that.
01:40 Can I ask about this competition? How important is it for you to win? You've got the three
01:46 competitions, to win the EFL Cup and maybe the FIFA one as well, to hold all of them
01:54 at the same time. Is that important to you?
01:57 This competition?
01:58 If you won this one and the FIFA, then you had all five.
02:01 No, I don't think of FIFA. I think tomorrow, how the game, how to try to do it. Now I'm
02:05 thinking to win the Carabao Cup. When I arrived in the previous season, oh, we are wearing
02:08 qualifiers. If we win, we are one step away from going to Wembley again. After that, OK,
02:15 the guys see the final close and after they do everything. But now, it's not the case.
02:20 But now it's not the last season. So we just play a game, do well, it will be good for
02:26 the players who didn't play much minutes and the rest, try to handle the minutes, to arrive
02:30 well. Because after, we cannot come back by plane because of a problem for the planes.
02:38 We don't have planes to travel back, so we have to take a bus. It's two, three hours
02:42 later. We arrive here so, so late. And the day after, Thursday arrives and Friday we
02:52 have to travel to Wolves. And that's why you have to think about it in that time. And after
02:58 we go to Germany to play in the Champions League. It's a really, really important game
03:05 for us because we know what it means to be able to qualify for the next stage. And this
03:12 you have to do.
03:13 Is that normal that you have to travel back?
03:18 I don't know what happened. The team manager told me that it happened in the previous one,
03:24 I think. We could not go to London, I think, against... I have a bad memory, sorry guys.
03:31 But we cannot come back by plane. It's not a problem, we take the bus. But we arrive
03:36 much, much later than we expect. And it worries me.
03:41 With Calvin, how much do you get him to talk to Rodri or study Rodri's game in terms of
03:48 playing that role in your team?
03:50 He has to see Calvin Phillips. But of course being outside, sitting and seeing the players
03:55 and what we are looking for in the training session, in the meetings, and seeing that
03:58 helps a lot. But every player has his own specific... We bring Calvin here for his quality.
04:06 There are no twins in football. Every player has his own personality and quality.
04:12 Marcelo Bielsa's style of football is quite different to everyone else's. Does it take
04:17 a while to get out of that?
04:21 I think Marcelo gave Calvin the best of Calvin in his career. I would love to have done with
04:27 Calvin what Marcelo has done to him. But it's what it is. We have a specific way to play,
04:34 sometimes we struggle with a few things. The game in the previous one was perfect. It's
04:40 the biggest quality. But he's open-minded, always wants to learn, always wants to help.
04:45 This is what I want to try to do.
04:47 Pep, even though you've won this competition four times, a few years ago I think you said
04:53 that your view would be to eliminate this competition to ease the burden on players
04:59 and fix the congestion. Do you still feel that way?
05:03 No.
05:04 Do you still feel that that should happen?
05:06 No, I have no respect for the Carabao Cup. There are a lot of games, it's a different
05:11 situation. How many years have we played the Carabao Cup before it was League One? Or was
05:17 it a previous name of the competition? Since the first century? How many? All the time.
05:23 So we have to play it. There are a lot of games, yes, but a lot of games for many reasons.
05:30 It's not about that. I would love to finish the season and have time to refresh. This
05:36 is the only thing. I would like to see it for all the teams that play a lot of competitions.
05:40 Between seasons, more time. A little bit of break in winter time, like now we have before
05:45 we didn't have it. So that's all. The rest, always the FA Cup is important. The Carabao
05:50 Cup is important in this country. So go for it. This is where it is.
05:55 You've changed your mind over that, you don't think it should be taken out of the schedule,
05:59 the Carabao Cup?
06:01 The competition itself? It's not going to happen.
06:04 But do you think it should happen, that's what I'm saying?
06:06 No, no, no. For me it's OK.
06:10 Just on Kelvin, were you impressed in the summer that he decided that he wanted to stay
06:17 and fight for his place? Because I would think that a lot of players in that situation would
06:21 have thought 'I can't be bothered, I'm going to move and play somewhere else'.
06:25 Yeah, he decided to stay. The club spoke with him and for the fact that we have not much
06:30 minutes, they said 'no, I want to stay, we'll be farther soon, so I want to stay here'.
06:34 It's OK, it's perfect. He's a lovely person.
06:37 Does that mean a lot to you when a player shows that desire, instead of taking the easy
06:40 option and maybe moving somewhere else?
06:41 Yeah, of course. Of course. Of course.
06:48 Pep, just coming back to what Mike was saying earlier about the travel,
06:51 are you coming back straight after the game on a bus tomorrow night?
06:56 Yeah, we travel tomorrow after the game, we take a bus and come back.
06:59 Do you know what time you'll get back here?
07:01 Not early. But exactly, I didn't see the schedule, the plan.
07:07 And because of the squad, you want to rotate, is this an opportunity for some of the young
07:13 players in your squad to...
07:15 Yeah, all the players in our squad are ready, and for the second team we cannot take a few
07:26 of them because we sell a lot of them and still they are not ready to play with us.
07:32 So that's why I have to give time to them to develop, it's not just the fact of the
07:37 academy, bring him there.
07:39 Still, I spoke with the chief, I spoke with Brian, the manager, they are not prepared
07:47 right now because the academy is in generations and they need a little bit of time to grow up.
07:53 Pep, you said that Kyle can't play, you said the other day that Ruben can't play,
08:00 is that right that none of your captains will be available against Newcastle?
08:05 Not today, but I know they will come and say that they are fresh, I want to play a few
08:10 minutes, maybe they will play.
08:12 After the game I said that maybe they have to rest because it's the minutes, Roddy for
08:17 example cannot play, but just in case he was not sent off, he would have not played from
08:22 the beginning.
08:23 But we'll see, he has training this afternoon and we'll see.
08:27 If they can't play, is there a way that you choose the next captain?
08:31 I don't know, I don't know who is the next captain.
08:35 So, yeah that's true, all five are out.
08:39 Bernardo is out, Rodry, Ruben, just in case they don't play.
08:44 We'll find another one, I don't know which one, but we'll find.
08:47 I realise you have a training session this afternoon, but you've been talking about
08:56 being exhausted, how many of them would you confidently pick tomorrow and think they are
09:03 physically fine to play tomorrow?
09:06 I have to see the training.
09:08 I still have a plan a little bit the way you want to play and the players who are going
09:13 to play, but not start till 11 completely.
09:15 I want to see the team training and I will talk to them and we'll see.
09:22 Tomorrow we'll take a decision.
09:24 Tomorrow night, it's not a three, it's an eight, so we have more time to recover, so
09:28 we'll see.
09:29 Are you going to have to take risks with the fitness of some of the players?
09:34 No, I don't want to take risks.
09:36 I don't want to.
09:38 If you're not calling upon any academy players to play tomorrow, then presumably you are
09:43 going to have to take risks?
09:45 Some players are maybe tired, they have to play, definitely.
09:51 But it is what it is.
09:54 We have a lot of players for the academy and that's why they are so young, still so young
09:58 to play in Newcastle away.
10:00 Pep, what is the chance of us seeing Oscar Bob making a start tomorrow?
10:06 Yes, I have a chance.
10:07 What do you expect from a player like that?
10:10 Be himself.
10:11 We know him, it doesn't matter how he performs.
10:15 Try to be himself the best as possible.
10:17 Thank you guys.
10:19 Thank you.
10:20 (scissors snipping)
10:23 (scratching)