Guardiola admits Grealish chose to go to England despite lack of fitness as injuries mount
08/11/2024
CFGA, Manchester, UK
08/11/2024
CFGA, Manchester, UK
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00:00Have you given, like you said, the contract extensions before have often been November.
00:08Have you told the club when you will make a decision, by the end of November or by the end of December,
00:14at least so they have time to plan?
00:17I said many times, I'm not going to talk about the subject.
00:19What is going to happen, is going to happen.
00:21We are in touch regularly and what is going to happen, is going to happen.
00:26Always for the benefit for the club.
00:28Just in terms of the season and the goals, obviously Julian Alvarez went in the summer.
00:35I think most people can understand the logic there.
00:39A huge fee, the player wanted to go.
00:42Do you feel though that with the loss of a player like that,
00:47and you've not had Kevin for periods,
00:50that you're just lacking a little bit of the same goal threat you've maybe had in previous seasons?
00:57What we lost is the injuries that we have all season.
01:00This is the problem.
01:01The rest, it's happened.
01:03People came in, came out.
01:06The only difference in the previous eight seasons is the amount of injuries I never had
01:09and that we have for different reasons, sometimes difficult to understand.
01:14It's the only reason.
01:15So even with the injuries, you don't feel you were maybe just one forward, short or light?
01:21Without injuries.
01:22Even without the injuries, do you feel you weren't...
01:25We have a terrible squad.
01:30Hi, Pep.
01:31Did Lee Carsley contact you about Jack or picking Jack?
01:35No.
01:36And are you surprised he's been picked?
01:38It's his decision.
01:41In 70 days, he didn't train once.
01:43Today was the first training he trained 20 minutes.
01:47So, this is a reality.
01:53Hi, Pep.
01:55International break, of course, coming up after this weekend.
01:57And there's a lot of strain, a lot of workload on the players at the moment.
02:02And, of course, both national teams and club teams demand a lot from the players,
02:06want them to play as much as possible.
02:08And you have different interests as well from the club and international level.
02:12Do you think at this point in time that the relationship between the club,
02:18club football in general, and the international football is sustainable?
02:22Can it go on like this?
02:25Always have been like that.
02:26National teams always play in this period.
02:30And I'm really pleased the players, when they fit,
02:34when they didn't struggle the last one, two, three weeks, one month,
02:39go to a national team, I'm more than satisfied they go,
02:44represent his own country.
02:45They love to play with them.
02:47But when they don't fit, they don't fit well,
02:52for the reasons they struggled in the last month,
02:55had the opinion they had to recall.
02:59Hi Pep, sorry to go back to Jack again.
03:01I think Lee Karse said he's trained for the last two days.
03:04Do you think that he would be ready to play for England?
03:07In the gym, a few minutes, yeah.
03:09Last two days in the gym.
03:11But if he was selected for England, do you think he would be ready?
03:14It's a question for the manager from UK, so I'm not involved in that.
03:17They can select.
03:18So I cannot add anything else.
03:21All that said, the day after the Wolves was injured,
03:25seven days out, today was the first training with the team.
03:28Can I ask about Nathan Ake, he's not in the Netherlands squad.
03:31Is he out for tomorrow?
03:33Yeah, it's getting better.
03:35He's still not fully fit, but he's getting better.
03:40Hi Pep, I know it can be frustrating when players have been injured
03:44but they get called up anyway.
03:46This Grealish situation doesn't seem ideal,
03:49but could it help that he might get some more training
03:52during the international break?
03:54He might even get 20 minutes with England,
03:56that might help you when you come back for City?
03:58Maybe.
04:01I don't know if he will be fit for just 20 minutes.
04:04I don't know.
04:05I'm sure the manager from UK will know better than me.
04:08How has it been for Grealish this season?
04:11Because obviously in the pre-season when we were in America
04:14talking to him about bouncing back from the Euros,
04:16this kind of being a big season for him,
04:18it hasn't really started yet.
04:20He had two or three setbacks in terms of injuries
04:23that could not be his rhythm.
04:26This is the only problem.
04:27That's what I mean.
04:28How is he?
04:29Is it difficult to keep him?
04:31Do you have to keep him motivated?
04:32How is he?
04:33Is he upbeat?
04:34He has to, we have to.
04:36But he has to be fit to play.
04:38It's not only Jack, there are many players that happen.
04:44This is the reality.
04:47Just a question on James McAtee.
04:49Do you think with the injury situation being so bad at the moment,
04:52are we close to maybe seeing him start a game?
04:55Yes.
04:56It can happen.
04:57We don't have many players, it can happen.
04:59It's difficult when you don't play many minutes,
05:03but the rhythm and the pace was really, really good.
05:06Of course he's there.
05:13Hi, Pep.
05:14Maybe this is a stupid question,
05:15but if Lee Carlsley doesn't contact you,
05:17how can you possibly call up one of your players?
05:19How does he know he's fit if he's not trained for 16, 17 days?
05:22Does he speak to your medical department or is he just guessing?
05:25I don't know.
05:27The medical department didn't tell me.
05:29They spoke.
05:30I don't know.
05:32I don't know.
05:33I know obviously you're very polite and a gentleman,
05:37but surely if no one from England has found out,
05:40if he should go, is this not a bit improper of them?
05:44Is it the right way to go about it, selecting a player they don't know?
05:48They can select all the players that they want.
05:51And Jack today trained and they believe they can help us.
05:56I'm not the guy who says you cannot go.
05:59So all I said for my team for tomorrow is not fit.
06:05So he cannot play tomorrow.
06:07That is all I can say.
06:09And after that, since 17, a little bit, two more days and two weeks,
06:14and didn't train and the people from England believe that he can help them.
06:22So go.
06:25Have you spoken to Jack about him being called up?
06:28Yeah.
06:30What did he say?
06:32I want to go to a national team.
06:34Are you surprised by that, given that he's not fit?
06:38No.
06:40And can I also ask, you said in midweek
06:43that your players weren't emotionally stable in the game against Sporting.
06:47What exactly did you mean by that, and is that surprising?
06:50No, just with the penalties that we concede.
06:52That's all.
06:532-1, we can come back.
06:55We have a penalty in 69 minutes.
06:57And for the action, of course, it's a penalty.
07:00The Champions League is different.
07:01The penalties here in the Premier League will not be given.
07:04But in Europe it's given.
07:06Because the way the referees conduct is a bit different.
07:10Yeah, we'll improve on that.
07:13Thank you, everyone.