Guardiola on finding goalscoring options during Haaland's seven-week injury lay-off
01/04/2025 - embargoed section
CGA, Manchester, UK
01/04/2025 - embargoed section
CGA, Manchester, UK
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00:00Hi Pep, Mahmoud came on and scored the winner on Sunday, do you feel like he can play in
00:08that No. 9 role, do you think so? Is that his strongest role? Because he's quite versatile
00:14isn't he?
00:15Yeah I can play, Phil can play there, Maka can play there, Oscar Boak can play there.
00:19Yeah, there are players that can play there.
00:21Do you think he will want to play that role?
00:25He likes to play close to the box, he loves to score, to have a sense of goal, definitely.
00:30And he has it, yeah.
00:37Hi Pep, just returning to the ticket situation, do you sense that there's a divide forming
00:42between local fans and tourists, fans from abroad? There seems to be a lot of tension
00:47lately.
00:48I want to be honest, I don't know what is or why. I didn't speak with the club about
00:53the particular subject, so I don't know. I cannot talk because maybe I will know it
00:59next day, next hour, but I don't know now.
01:02I think this is a concern about the fans, local fans being priced out, and clubs, not
01:07necessarily City, but City are part of this, just focusing on...
01:10All I know is that I have a meeting for the next week, or this week, or maybe Thursday
01:14or Friday with the fans, and this is what has to be talked about. And I said before,
01:21so this is a football club that depends because we have our fans. Not now, it's been a long
01:27time ago. Football clubs belong to the people, and the people will not agree with something
01:32like the same when they applaud, in the last eight years, when we won what we won, because
01:37we have incredible players, you know, to achieve what we achieve, and when they boo us, because
01:42they are unsatisfied for our performance.
01:45So imagine going to the stadium with no fans, and nobody there. But not here, not the stadium,
01:50it would not make sense. Or go there and nobody watches the TV. So it would not make
01:55sense, our job. So we should close the door. And of course they can legitimately express
02:01with the concerns and the feelings with the club, and the club is open, that listen to
02:05them and try to arrive at an agreement that everybody can be satisfied.
02:09The only thing I can say, egoistically or not egoistically, I need them. We need them.
02:14We need the fans, you know, to close to the games and support us, and in the bad moments
02:19be there, because we are playing for a lot. But who I am, you know, to say, but not here,
02:24when I was in Barcelona, when I was in Miami. Who I am to, you know, don't agree with the
02:31people who can express what they want to express. I can have my opinion, but that is irrelevant,
02:36it's not important.
02:37Hi Pep, since you've been here, all the top clubs have had bad seasons, Liverpool, Arsenal,
02:44Tottenham have all dropped out of the Champions League and haven't won trophies. What would
02:47it say about this club and your group of players, even in your worst season, if you
02:52could still finish in the top four and win a trophy?
02:53It would be incredible. For the problems that have happened all the season. When we won
03:00the treble, everybody was there. When we won the quadruple, everybody was there. When we
03:03won the double, everybody was there. Of course we had injuries in that period, but won. But
03:09we had a lot. Imagine without Kusanov and Victor, we would have the last six, seven,
03:17eight weeks with just one central defender. With Ruben. So that is difficult to compete
03:24in that position. We won one title this season, Community Shield, we have one title in the
03:30pocket and alongside Newcastle we are the two ones who have done it. I think between
03:36Arsenal and Liverpool we defined the Premier League and we will see the FA Cup. And of
03:42course, with the situation they have, I said going to the Champions League next season
03:46will be an incredible success, just for the fact of being there, for the problems that
03:50we had. But sometimes, what I said before, there are seasons that sometimes happen. Don't
03:54tell me why. Sometimes, hopefully everything is going that season. All the worst in that
03:58season. The next season will be completely different. I hope so.
04:07Hi Pep, you've got a touchline ban for this game. Have you got any plans of how you're
04:11going to communicate your messages to the players?
04:14My assistants will communicate, I cannot. In the half-time I will do it, but not in
04:19the game.
04:20Do you learn anything when you're sat in the stands? Can you see something different than
04:24when you're on the touchline?
04:25The view is better. And I'm not annoying to my players. My players all the time complain
04:32to me how annoyed I am. So they can be free, can express their talent.
04:45You mentioned the central defenders a couple of minutes ago. There was a bit of talk in
04:50the last couple of days that Manu Akanji might be able to come back to training.
04:53He's getting better. All of them, I think, I don't know Nathan, but all of them will
04:58come before the end of the season. But I don't know when. But Manu is getting better.
05:02Do you know how long it will be before he can train with the squad?
05:07I don't know.
05:08You would expect him and Stones to be back at the end of the month, next month?
05:13Is he going to be back in April? Yes, maybe. I think in April, before April, maybe he will
05:19be back. It's a long time he's out. With John and Nathan, all three. I'm lucky that Josco
05:25was like a warrior, a real warrior. He's been there all the time since the beginning
05:31of the season. I cannot imagine what would have happened without Josco, what he has done.
05:37That's why I just can be grateful and appreciate his focus to be ready all the time.
05:45Just following on from Rob's question about the top four battle and maybe reaching it,
05:49I remember Jose Mourinho said that finishing second behind you in the 100-point season
05:53he regarded as one of his greatest achievements because of the competition and everything
05:57and all the issues he faced. Would it be one of your most satisfying achievements to get
06:03this team and to continue that Champions League qualification? No. But in a different context
06:10from winning trophies.
06:11They don't give me bonus. When I win the Premier League I have bonus. Now I don't have bonus.
06:18But you said you deserved it last week. But would it be satisfying in a different context?
06:24Of course it would be. I understand when Jose said this quote and I understand the intention
06:31of your question. Of course it would be, definitely. For the club for the next season we want to
06:36play in the Champions League, you know that. Always about Dreamforce, I've said a thousand
06:42million times that the people take for granted the chances it is going to win the Champions
06:46League will happen in the future. And when I was here one month or two months ago and
06:49I said we are qualifying for the Champions League, people don't even pay attention. I
06:54know how difficult it is. Otherwise all important teams who have been every season in the Champions
06:58League, it didn't happen. We are the only one in the last I don't know how many years
07:02we have been there. Like looking after a cup. These kind of things, these kind of things
07:06I give a lot, a lot, a lot importance because it's like the consistency. Like always I've
07:11been looking for as a manager since day one I've become that no better competition play
07:15there in this season would not be possible to do it in the Premier League and in the
07:19Champions League that we have done the worst Champions League since we are here. But look
07:23against the FA Cup seven in a row. Come on, the people say yeah you play in the teams
07:27of Championship League one. In seven years when it's in a row you play most of the time
07:31sometimes against Premier League teams, the toughest one. And we have been seven years
07:35that means wow, I like that. And maybe we are going to win the FA Cup but we have been
07:39there. In the Premier League we have not been there. In the Champions League we have not
07:43been there. In the FA Cup we have been there. In the Carabao Cup we were not there but we
07:47compete incredibly well in a spurious way. We were better than them and we lost but it's
07:50fine, it's okay. But in the Champions League, in the Premier League we have not been there
07:54in terms that we have to be. We won against Bournemouth. We could lose maybe but this
07:59is my team. The fight, make the challenge, the type of game. Because the team for example
08:06the type of game that Nottingham Forest face you is completely different than Bournemouth.
08:09You have to adapt, you have to challenge each one. And I like to see that team. And
08:14after of course you cannot win all the time. Simply because it's impossible. You cannot.
08:19But at least be yourself. And this is what you are looking for. And of course in the
08:28situation that we have not been really, really good in the Champions League, in the Premier
08:32League sorry. Being there, being in the top four, maybe top five, maybe the fifth in the
08:37Premier League for the good performance for all the teams. Maybe we play next season,
08:41next season. Of course we'll be good, really, really good. Of course. But the season has
08:45been so weird, so difficult. First of all, we didn't have the players. That is the main
08:51target, the main reason. There are a lot of another ones. But especially this one. So
08:56you cannot compete in all competitions when we don't have the players. Because travel.
09:03Without players we don't win the travel. Quadruple. We don't win all domestic titles without the
09:09players. And this season happened. So we had a lot, a lot of players without that. But
09:14yeah, now is the last moment. Look that week is ahead of us. I saw the forecast yesterday.
09:20We'll be good. And we have to, you know, nine games, nine finals. Nine finals and we're
09:27going to try and next season with our fans, happy or unhappy, they will support us in
09:33the Champions League. That is what we want.
09:36Thank you guys.