Not for the primary time lately, Pep Guardiola has namechecked Newcastle United when talking to the media about his Man Metropolis facet.
The Spaniard has beforehand hailed Eddie Howe, plenty of our star gamers and our progress since new house owners arrived, however he’s now mentioned part of our sport that his Metropolis facet are unable to match.
This comes as Guardiola battles by means of his hardest spell in command of Metropolis, who’re 12 factors behind Liverpool within the title race and dealing with a play-off conflict with Actual Madrid or Bayer Munich after ending twenty second in a Champions League desk of 36 golf equipment.
Talking after final night time’s 3-1 win over Membership Brugge within the Champions League, an sincere and open Pep Guardiola used Newcastle for instance of a group who’re “miles higher” than his Man Metropolis facet in transition.
Newcastle journey to the Etihad in our subsequent Premier League away sport and can pay attention to simply how simply Brugge have been capable of break clear on the counter final night time.
Pep admitted that his Metropolis facet are an “previous group”, mentioning their ageing midfielders as a motive he’s a “little bit scared to play these transitional video games” that noticed them danger an early exit from the Champions League final night time.
“I’d like to not concede the counter-attack, to have extra management, however for the absences that we now have, we’re an previous group,” Pep mentioned.
“Kevin (De Bruyne) is 34 (in June), (Ilkay) Gundogan 34, Mateo (Kovacic) is identical (turning 31 in Might). We don’t have replacements in order that they performed plenty of minutes. That’s why we’re so grateful for what Gundogan has performed, and Kovacic and Kevin to come back again as quickly as doable.
“That’s why I’m slightly bit scared to play these transitional video games in opposition to Newcastle, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton – they’re miles higher than us.”
Whereas Man Metropolis’s XI might trump ours from a technical perspective, it’s honest to say Howe has constructed a group stuffed with tempo, energy and athleticism.
One space that stands out from a bodily and technical perspective is our midfield, the place we now have a monstrous combine of labor fee, depth and high quality in Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton.
Pep will put together his group to protect in opposition to counter assaults once we journey to the Etihad two weeks on Saturday, however it’s clear that we might get pleasure on the counter if our midfield trio can win their battles and launch the likes of Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.