2023-12-27 23:33:00
Manchester City were back in domestic action following winning the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia last weekend. And one thing has not changed despite this new status: the little margin that Pep Guardiola’s players have had in the Premier League in recent months.
First sanctioned by the former Jack Harrison following an error from Rodri, the reigning champions relied on a feat from Phil Foden, a much-discussed penalty and an error from Jordan Pickford to turn the match around ( 1-3). Clearly, City still has room for content.
But one thing has changed: the level of confidence of Citizens. Surprising, at first glance, to speak of a lack of confidence for a team which has accumulated five titles in 2023. But the Citizens were under pressure following having won only one of their last six league matches before going to Goodison Park. And even more by joining the locker room trailing the score. Then Guardiola came by.
The coach was great at halftime
“The coach was great at half-time to keep believing, telling us that we didn’t have this Club World Cup winners badge for no reason,” Phil Foden told Prime Video. at the end of the match. We have to believe in ourselves because we are a high-level team.”
Foden and his team celebrate once morest Everton
Credit: Getty Images
The boss’s message therefore came across well during the break. And the Spanish technician stuck to his communication strategy even in front of the media, proud of the reaction of his troops. “This is why we are world champions, the best team in the world,” he said.
I remind them of their qualities every day
“This badge makes us very proud, it gives us responsibilities, we have to defend something incredible, he insisted at the microphone of beIN Sports. But today the players prove it once more, and once more, and once more , year following year. It makes me very proud as a manager. I remind them of their qualities every day. We have standards to respect.”
Able to insult or criticize a player – as he did once more with Josko Gvardiol on Wednesday – in front of the cameras in the seconds following a victory, the former Barça coach is also capable of taking the opposite view by putting his players on a pedestal when they seem to have less margin. This is the Guardiola method. The one which allows, despite a start to the season which sometimes seemed sluggish, to come back to three points behind Arsenal and five behind leader Liverpool, who have one more game.
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