Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaks ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley.
Hey, uh, Pep. Um, yesterday there was an announcement about the FA Cup. You know what the FA Cup means to people in England. You’ve won the tournament. Do you have a view on the decision to get rid of replays? Clearly, at the top end of the game, you’ve got a lot of matches, but other people really like the idea of replays.
I think you know better than me the reason why it was built, always created the replay in this country is for the lower divisions, guest for have the chance for given opportunity with this uh, clubs in low divis have the opportunity to have a big clubs a good, you know, a good uh, money for them.
For what that sends, it’s a problem. It’s a big blow, absolutely. The reason why for the big clubs playing the European competitions, it’s much better. It’s much better we have fewer games in the now tight-scheduled world of games so to find the balance today in the world of football is the most difficult thing and understand.
The clubs in the lower divisions can complain about that because if we have a game here at the stadium. We cannot win you have to go to the team with a conference on League One that game is so important for them that’s why I think was created that replaces in the cup for a tradition for many many years but with the schedule that we have especially the teams like play European competitions and national teams many many players go to a national team is much better.
Obviously, a lot of your thinking about this match will I assume center around Cole Palmer. When you look back when you’ve seen what he has done well first of all are you surprised how well he’s done and has it made you at all think you made a mistake letting him go?
I don’t know that is an exceptional player we knew was here and we know how he’s proven. Still, they have a lot of minutes I said many times I didn’t give the minutes and maybe he deserved one of the minutes.
Now he has a Chelsea so and understand completely so I’m happy for him because a lovely guy a shy guy has incredible potential the whites can not be here so it’s it’s it’s what it is so he’s playing good um in cover threat is playing fantastically.
Hence, what can I say the decision has been made for many reasons he was asking two seasons to leave during two seasons to leave I said no stay at the end no I want to leave what can we do so I said in the precision stay because riat is gone I said no I want to leave after two seasons what can I say so go and there so that playing that level is an exception yeah everybody knows it.
Hi Pep, obviously it was a tough way to lose on Wednesday night what’s the feeling now going into what is another big game today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today so you feel the players are ready to go out there and you know willing to try to put right what went wrong?
We don’t have another option I don’t want to feel sorry for ourselves in football you lose games so we perform at our best we are not able to win so what next we don’t have time to reflect we reflect in summertime what happened during the season.
You win sometimes, most of the time, but lately in this club, something that hasn’t happened in years. But sometimes you lose games, so, that’s what happened. Just on the players who came off, Erling, Kevin, and Manu, how are they?
Kevin, uh, Erling, who is it?
Yes. Hi, following up on Erling, you said you would see, how is his condition. Were there any problems before he asked to come off?
Absolutely, was it a tough game? 120 minutes, a lot of action, high intensity for both sides, and Erling felt something, a muscular issue, and that’s why he asked me. I could not continue, and Kevin, in the last minutes as well, felt exhausted, so tired. And after what happened five months injured, so that is normal, but we’ll see tomorrow.
And last question, can you say a little bit more about the muscular issue that Erling experienced?
Yes, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. What does the doctor say then? I said, yeah, Miss a little bit niggles, have a little bit of a problem, and we’ll see how he evolves in the next hours.
Tom, just following up on that, I suppose with Manchester City playing so many big games, not just this season but the last few years, is it a concern when two of your most influential players can’t finish the 120 minutes in a big game? And when players like Roger come out and say they’re tired?
Normal, the number of games we have played this season and the previous seasons, and not much recovery, and the extra time and high intensity, the way we played, we put a lot of pressure on our game, and that’s why the fatigue is there. They are human beings, so they are not machines, so they are human beings, sometimes the fatigue is there.
And obviously, I know you’re preparing for a big game in the FA Cup, but we’re all very excited about the title race with all three of the teams in the title race now out of Europe, does that add an extra dimension, extra intensity to the title race now?
Oh, I prefer to be in the Champions League and play the title, or be in the Champions League. We are used to it because, in the last three years, we have been in the semi-finals, the final. So, it’s what it is. So, it’s a question to adapt to the broadcasters and the FA Cups or Premier Leagues decide where and when we have to play.
Pep, if I could come back to Wednesday night again, um, you have already said that you did everything that you could have done. Would you agree though that up until Madrid scored, the game started a bit slow? And if you agree, why that happen?
Yeah, you want to play 9 120 minutes like we played the last 80 minutes against Madrid? I don’t know which was and time you made a judge.
You know which team we facing, do you expect that Madrid didn’t have the ball or create a chance or have opportunities to create that? Or you believe now because we’re sitting here we’re going to win another treble this season and next season another treble and next season another treble and we are going to win the Premier League for 20 points in front of the opponents. So, it’s not the truth.
So, the most unbelievable thing is that we compete as a team that we are, and till the end. And in some moments they start because they take the ball and ah, because last season didn’t do it, they this season they cannot do it. They’re an incredible team, used to playing under pressure with the big events and not to do it.
Even with that, we were absolutely outstanding from minute one the minute 20, 20 plus penalties included. So, we were good, really good in many things. And the margin, it was, we lost for an aggregate and Penal is 43.
So, you have to accept it. So, we were good, yeah, good enough? No, because you, we good a little bit better. We can win. We don’t win in this business, who wins is right, and who doesn’t win is wrong. So, last season we won, we were right, this season they won, they’re right.
So, don’t make another analysis, so we can see, oh, what would happen if that would happen, if that, if that? It doesn’t count, don’t count at that level. You have to win, we would eat everything, we know it, they know it, all the world knows it, but it was not enough. When it’s not enough, it’s night, congratulating that we have done a thousand million times. And tomorrow, I f up, and because you have been that good.
Um, it’s rare that you feel the taste of a big defeat, um, does it change anything? Is it, is it different?
Not the first time happened in my life, that in the Champions League I shot 35 shots target against Chelsea with Roberto de Matteo and I lost, we played incredibly well. Bayern Munich in the semi-final against Atletico Madrid, by unbelievable in the first half, I know how many shots, and we lost.
So, we lost in the last minutes and lost this game. So, it’s football, it’s not about this opponent, it’s football, it’s happened. So, it happens when you do who you are and perform where you are, what else? So, we are, yes, of course, we are, we want to continue, but try to qualify for the Champions League and next season try to do it. But it’s not the first time happened in my life.
So, but we have done what they have done and everybody knows, we did everything, if not possible because they were incredibly well-defense in the box. They were incredibly solidarity with the amount of talent they have, it doesn’t matter, they defend, they defend during long, long, long, long time. So, that is Chapo.
I think my team is not able to do this. My team had to defend a lot, a lot of minutes in my box, we were not good, we were not able to do it, we could not do it and they’re able to do it, so big credit to them.
Always we can say, and next time if it happens again and we play again, how can we create three, I know how many shots we have done, 60, double you have more chances to score a goal, it’s the only chance we can do, try to do better there, we did not do it.
But the players did everything, and when this happened, it happened. 3 days ago against Luton, it happened before in Madrid, it happened before against Crystal Palace, so the team is there always, and that after we come from it’s quite admirable. So, it’s really, really good. I’m so proud, but I would love to be there. Unfortunately, we are not.
Timeline courtesy of Warrior J93
0:00 Intro
0:28 FA Cup
2:09 Cole Palmer
3:34 “Today better than yesterday” on the Mood in the dressing room
4:29 Erling Haaland & Kevin De Bruyne Update
4:45 Erling Haaland
5:45 Concern about the big players can’t finish 90 min? | “It’s normal”
6:31 Title Race
7:08 Reflection on Wednesday’s game vs Real Madrid
9:22 Tasting a big defeat?
11:17 Outro | Please like the video and subscribe!
