Manchester City head coach Josep Guardiola shared his thoughts on a number of issues after the game against Chelsea.
About Chelsea
Guardiola described Chelsea as a world-class opponent. He said the squad is not made up of academy boys, but top-level players. That’s why he stressed that controlling a match for the full 90 minutes against such a rival is extremely difficult.
On January transfer plans
The coach said he has no clear plan or idea yet: he doesn’t know anything and no thoughts have been formed.
On players returning before the Brighton match
According to Guardiola, it’s still unclear whether anyone can return soon. He thinks probably not, but said it’s too early to give a definite answer because he hasn’t had a detailed talk with the doctors yet.
Rating the match against Chelsea
Guardiola noted that his team played very well not just for 45 minutes, but for almost 90–95 minutes.
About Rodri
He called Rodri an exceptional player. Guardiola emphasized that Rodri’s calmness, ability to control the game and influence on the team strengthen City in many ways. At the same time, he raised the key question: there’s another tough opponent in three days—will Rodri play in that match or not?
Guardiola also spoke frankly about the situation: Mateo Kovacic and Nico Gonzalez are not fully ready yet. Therefore, he said he will clarify the lineup and how to set up the team in the coming days.
Thoughts on game details
He said the team controlled the game well in the first half. In the second half, two losses of possession led to two chances for Chelsea. Still, near the end City created favorable situations like 2v1 and 3v2 thanks to their talented players, but he said they lacked efficiency to turn them into truly clear-cut chances.
Guardiola added that the team played at a high level across all lines, but failed to take the chance to score a second, third or fourth goal and kill the game off. He also noted that the tempo was increased even more in the second half.
On Chelsea’s performance
Guardiola said Chelsea were more cautious in the first half, and in the second half they pushed forward more because they had nothing to lose. In his view, Chelsea got their “reward” in the end.
Final takeaway
Guardiola pointed out that it’s not about expected goals or numbers: the main factor is how effective you are in the decisive areas. He added that overall the level was very high in terms of how the team defended, ran and played.
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