Guardiola on City's 3-1 comeback win at Leipzig

NicheSportMedia

Transcript

00:00 Evening, guys, hope you're all...

00:02 Can't see any mics, so we'll just take a show of hands,

00:04 we'll come to as many of you as we can.

00:06 Jamie, please.

00:07 Again, congratulations,

00:09 what a big job it is to play for you.

00:12 Enjoy it.

00:13 Play good, huh?

00:14 What a player.

00:16 What a player, 18 years old.

00:19 I've been manager for 40, 50 years,

00:24 training players like unbelievable players,

00:27 to find a player like him playing in the pockets,

00:30 how he has to move in the whole midfield,

00:33 fullback coming inside,

00:34 moving the space a little, one of the more difficult ones.

00:37 He's one of the best I've ever trained, by far.

00:39 So he's a humble guy, doesn't talk much,

00:43 and has appreciation for all he's made, so...

00:46 Yeah, didn't play much this season,

00:48 last season was a key point to understand what we should do,

00:50 he helped us a lot to understand

00:52 what we have to do in our build-up,

00:55 and many, many things, and today was a proof again.

00:58 So he didn't play much, but he's going to play a lot.

01:00 Just looking at the group, how do you assess your two wins out of two?

01:04 How do you feel about your progress in the group?

01:07 Are you happy with two wins out of two?

01:09 Well, three, four days ago was no progress,

01:12 because we lost in Walsh.

01:16 It was important to break that, you know,

01:19 defeat, defeat, the first defeat is completely different,

01:22 the second one, the competition are different, so...

01:24 At the end of the season, it could have been good to, you know,

01:28 take advantage of winning in Walsh for four or five points,

01:31 for the people behind, but...

01:33 the season is so long, and a lot of games,

01:35 it's normal, it's happened.

01:37 So the people say, "Oh, you lose a game, what will happen?"

01:41 No, this is the normality, the exception is when you lose a few games.

01:45 And you have to be in perspective, put in perspective,

01:47 that's a win, what we won in the last year,

01:49 especially last season, and still we are here with this passion

01:52 to do the good things, and again we prove that...

01:56 Isn't it a team, maybe it's the best team I've had since Man City,

01:59 like, not the best, I'm unfair, because, oh, it was perfect.

02:02 I would say that the guys who come from the bench,

02:05 Nathan and Julian, and Jeremy and Mateus,

02:09 at the end, the contribution they have done,

02:11 that is the key point, the key point for the season,

02:14 and everyone help each other, and...

02:16 Yeah, I'm really satisfied, because it was a tough game to play,

02:19 Leipzig always is. We saw, we didn't concede much,

02:22 but the time we allowed them to run the transitions, oh my God.

02:26 In two, three passes, they are in front of me, so they are so fast,

02:29 and that's why we wanted...

02:31 Like, we tried to do it in the first game, last season,

02:35 in last 16, in the first game, the people were so annoying,

02:38 why we don't play quicker, in that team, the games happen.

02:42 You always have the feeling when you are able to do

02:44 in every action, attack, 15, 20, 25 passes,

02:48 something good is going to happen, something good.

02:50 In every action, Jack touched the ball, and after Bernardo,

02:54 and finished with Jack, and finished with Bernardo,

02:57 what has happened in the same action,

03:00 many good things are going to happen.

03:02 And today we did really, really, really well.

03:05 And again, as well, how we react when we draw,

03:09 and the only chance that they had, they react,

03:11 the team was... Yeah, was really good.

03:15 Paul?

03:17 With Rico, are you impressed by his temperament?

03:21 Because he seems... He got fouled a lot today,

03:24 and he's got fouled in previous matches as well,

03:27 and he doesn't seem to answer back, he just kind of gets on with it.

03:30 Yeah, he composed a lot of surprises, I remember the pre-season,

03:34 like, I did not even consider to bring in the pre-season,

03:38 the previous one, the last season.

03:40 And Carlos, Vicente, told me, "Oh, we can bring Rico,

03:44 "Luis, because he can play right back, left back."

03:47 I didn't know him.

03:48 And he played the first minute against Bayern Munich,

03:50 10, 15 minutes, I remember, right back, outside,

03:53 I said, "Oh, this guy is good."

03:56 And I started to train with that, I said, "Oh, this guy is good."

04:00 So, because when you play inside, you have 360,

04:04 and come front of the sport everywhere,

04:06 it's the most difficult position to play.

04:08 As a central defender, all you see in front of you,

04:11 he is in the middle there, he has the tempo, he absolutely knows how to do it.

04:15 And he's a big talent, to find that is not easy.

04:19 He comes from the academy, always train good,

04:23 and I'm very pleased for him, he deserves it.

04:25 He deserves all the compliments, he deserves all the praise

04:29 that the media or for ourselves, we can give him.

04:34 He deserves it.

04:35 Mike?

04:37 On that basis again, what does he have to do next?

04:41 You're so impressed by him, one of the best young talents,

04:43 what do you want to see now, this season, from Rico?

04:47 Don't imagine, listen, listen, listen,

04:51 and in every training session to get better.

04:54 You see the first free kick, Hidden, was in the corner.

04:58 So it's not good in the long balls, it's not good in the throw-ins,

05:02 it's not good in a few things, but that's the point.

05:06 If he's 18 years old, he's just 18 years old.

05:09 He has 10 years of career, 12 years of career,

05:12 and he has to always listen and improve.

05:15 His behaviour, when he plays, doesn't play, is always correct.

05:19 And I said a few times to the senior players,

05:25 I said, last season especially, how is he in the locker room

05:28 after playing three, four or five games and everybody makes compliments,

05:31 how is his behaviour?

05:32 So the same. So, OK, he's in a good path.

05:36 Obviously, Alvarez had a good first season last year.

05:41 It feels already, though, this season, that he's made another step forward.

05:45 Listen, a player who is a world champion with Argentina,

05:48 a player who started the season with Argentina is because he's a good player.

05:52 Last season, of course, arrived at a moment that we have John,

05:55 Rodri, Kevin, Ngundo, you know, and it was working well in the centre of the minutes,

06:00 but the same, didn't complain ever, and now look what happened.

06:03 When you have this positivity, go there, impact, make three runners,

06:07 make two, three crosses, make an outstanding goal again.

06:10 It's not the first time he has made these type of goals.

06:12 So, in 10, 15 minutes, the impact was huge.

06:17 And that is, have these players on the bench with this mentality

06:20 is really, really important.

06:21 Jack.

06:23 Hiya, Pep. Sorry, just another one on Rico.

06:27 I know you said he doesn't talk that much,

06:30 but do you think he's starting to find his voice in the dressing room?

06:33 There was a moment tonight when Haaland maybe should have squared the ball for him,

06:37 and he's actually gone.

06:39 Yeah, his reaction sometimes is, you know, doing that, but it's instinctive.

06:45 But I think in the academy, it was in the U-16, or I was captain,

06:50 so maybe he knows a little bit how responsible to do it, but step by step.

06:55 What he has to do is play every day better and better,

06:58 and being there as much as possible.

07:01 This is the most important thing.

07:02 He's getting better every game, and what's going to happen in the future,

07:06 he will dictate for himself.

07:08 Is that a positive thing?

07:10 You don't want to do that, but he's sort of acting as if he belongs in the squad,

07:15 like he is a crucial member of the squad now,

07:18 and how he's interacting with some of the other players.

07:20 He's a member of the squad, really.

07:22 So I speak with some players, and I say, "What do you think about Rico?"

07:26 They say, "Yeah, we like him."

07:28 When does that happen?

07:29 The most important thing as a football player, when you win,

07:33 the respect of your mates, you know?

07:36 That is the most important thing, the one opinion of the media or whatever.

07:42 When you gain the respect and your mates can rely on you on the pitch,

07:47 and you know you can do what you have to do,

07:50 you are in heaven.

07:52 So that is the most important thing by far.

07:55 And after, it will be compliments for Instagram, for Twitter, for whatever.

07:59 That's fine.

08:00 But have that, that is the key point.

08:02 And he has it.

08:03 For day one.

08:04 Because the players are not stupid.

08:06 They are more intelligent.

08:08 They smell everything on the pitch.

08:10 They know who can rely on them, and they can rely on him.

08:14 Thank you, guys.

08:15 Thank you.

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