Both Manchester City and Manchester United have started the season poorly, and Sunday’s clash at the Etihad presents a chance to finally start their ignitions this season. For Man City, there is much to look forward to, particularly with new signing Gianluigi Donnarumma.
After the 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on opening weekend, City lost the plot in their following two Premier League games, losing 2-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur and 2-1 away at Brighton.
The magnitude of the fixture coupled with City’s poor start to the season, Guardiola acknowledged that this game is doubly crucial:
“I always have a high respect for rivals. This is an important game for our fans and a really important game for us. I trust the players a lot, and we’re going to play a good game.”
City’s disappointing start might be down to several players, including Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Ederson, and Manuel Akanji, leaving in the summer. Addressing the changes in personnel, Pep Guardiola said:
“When you change the template within a period of 4-5 months, everything needs to be fixed and coordinated and we are doing very good things, but still we have to be more consistent, and step by step we’ll do it.”
With Ederson leaving, Donnarumma arrived from PSG this summer in a £26m deal, and the Italian will have big shoes to fill. Regarding comparisons between Donnarumma and Ederson, Guardiola said:
“I will adapt to the quality of the players, I will not demand Gigi to do what Ederson did – we’re talking about the best goalkeeper I’ve seen in distribution, short or long. We haven’t bought Gigi to do what Ederson did. Gigi has enough quality. He’s so tall. He’s so huge. He’ll give confidence to the team, he’s a big personality and presence. The Champions League last season is proof of how good he is.”
The Spaniard was also quizzed about who he thinks the best striker in the world is, after Arne Slot picked Liverpool’s new signing Isaak as his choice. Guardiola was quick to mention Erling Haaland, who hammered five goals for Norway against Moldova last week.
“Erling is a little bit above. Isak is an exceptional player, but if you ask me Erling as a player, he’s top. Someone else will say Mbappe, one will say Messi, one will say Cristiano. It’s a game of opinions. I won’t change Erling for anyone because I know him and I like him.”
Team selection has often been a conundrum for Guardiola, with their incredible squad depth season after season. This season, however, with several notable names leaving the club, picking the starting eleven is perhaps slightly easier for the City manager.
“Last season we had 26 players. This season we have 16 available. So it’s easier, yeah.”
Sunday’s fixture will be the first of seven games within the span of 21 days for Manchester City. Regarding the availability of players, Guardiola listed a couple of names that are injured:
“Omar (Marmoush), we’ve ran a few tests, but (he’ll be out) a few weeks I think. Rayan Cherki. (John) Stones is doubtful. Rest all fine.”
With several key players, who helped City achieve tremendous success, including a treble in 2022-23, leaving this summer, Guardiola had words of praise for his former pupils.
“First of all, I think Edi (Ederson), and Manuel (Akanji), and Gundo (Gundogan) deserve some words of praise. I think what we have done in this time was not possible without them. Edi helped us to create a special way (of playing). He’s been our keeper in the best decade for this club. Gundo the same, one of the best signings when I arrived, and Manuel too, they’re smart, intelligent players for different reasons. I wish personally all the best to all three.”
While an exciting chapter starts for Donnarumma between the sticks for City, Ederson has left to ply his trade in Turkey with Fenerbahce. Further elaborating on the transition from Ederson to Donnarumma, Guardiola said:
“For one or two seasons Ederson was thinking about taking a new experience and at the end that happened. The market provided us a chance to get Gigi, who is 26 years old and has an incredible experience with big clubs and the Italy national team, and we’re looking forward to helping him.”
With all the success City have enjoyed since the former Barcelona manager took over in 2016, this is the first time the squad has looked so different than the preceding season. When a reporter asked Guardiola if it almost feels like he’s back in 2016, the Spaniard said:
“That’s true. Last season we just bought Savinho because I was relying a lot on the players that we had. But after last season, many things have happened, in terms of injuries. We had many problems, so the club decided not (to think just) for now but for many years. I would love to have players from eight years ago, seven years ago, six years ago, but of course at every club there are changes.”
With Liverpool showing no signs of stopping and in a hurry to retain their Premier League title with three wins in their first three Premier League games, Manchester City will know that another slip-up so early in the season could seriously derail their title hopes.
