sport news Pep Guardiola hints some Man City stars aren't pulling their weight in training ... trends now

sport news Pep Guardiola hints some Man City stars aren't pulling their weight in training ... trends now
sport news Pep Guardiola hints some Man City stars aren't pulling their weight in training ... trends now

sport news Pep Guardiola hints some Man City stars aren't pulling their weight in training ... trends now

Sometimes it is hard not to feel sorry for Premier League managers. If they speak every few days, invariably there will be occasions when whatever they say whacks them on the nose almost immediately.

On Friday, Pep Guardiola was glowing about Manchester City’s reaction to the post-World Cup restart. He was ‘surprised’ at the high level of performances during victories over Liverpool and Leeds United, adding that it made him certain they were ready to give Arsenal a rough ride in the title race.

They probably still will, but City might find themselves 10 points behind the Gunners by the time they next play, at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, after chucking in a laboured display to only draw here. Everton were superb defensively, and stifled midfield for long spells, but City were nowhere near par. They ought to have won this three times over yet they failed the eye test and never truly looked like scoring. All of the ball, loads of shots and then the other team runs up the other end to score the only time they get anywhere near Ederson’s box.

Pep Guardiola's aim to catch Arsenal at the top of the Premier League hit a snag versus Everton

Pep Guardiola's aim to catch Arsenal at the top of the Premier League hit a snag versus Everton

MATCH RATINGS 

MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson 6; Lewis 7 (Gundogan 87min), Stones 7, Akanji 5, Ake 6; De Bruyne 6, Rodri 6, Silva 5.5; Mahrez 6, Haaland 7 (Alvarez 87), Grealish 6 (Foden 87). Scorer: Haaland 24. Booked: De Bruyne, Silva, Haaland. Manager: Pep Guardiola 6.

EVERTON (5-3-2): Pickford 7; Patterson 6 (Coleman 70, 6), Godfrey 8 (Doucoure 90), Tarkowski 7.5, Coady 7, Mykolenko 7; Iwobi 6, Gueye 7.5 (Davies 78), Onana 7; Calvert-Lewin 6 (Maupay 70, 5), Gray 7.5. Scorer: Gray 64. Booked: Patterson, Tarkowski, Onana, Maupay.

Manager: Frank Lampard 7. Referee: Andy Madley 6. Attendance: 53,444.

 

Advertisement

That film plays a couple of times a season at the Etihad Stadium — it just so happens that a home defeat by Brentford and a draw against Everton sandwich Qatar.

Guardiola always defends his group. ‘The way we’ve played in the last three games is one of the best since I’ve been here,’ he said. ‘We controlled long balls and second balls really well. We were better.’

The collective will rarely be publicly admonished — even when Guardiola has torn strips off them inside the dressing room. Criticising them outside their inner sanctum generally only occurs when City have won a game, as a motivational tool.

The same can be said of individuals, where he will back them to the hilt, and the revelation that Kalvin Phillips had come back ‘overweight’ last week was a definite outlier. Usually his messages to the squad are hidden

read more from dailymail.....

PREV 'Everything was stacked against him': Panthers WR defends Bryce Young, explains why he's excited for young QB
NEXT sport news REVEALED: Shohei Ohtani's hotshot Hollywood lawyers have previously represented ... trends now