Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke to the press on Friday ahead of this weekend's Premier League match against Everton, and the Catalan manager touched on many topics, including Saturday's opponent and their manager, Ronald Koeman, updates on the condition of some important first team players, and more.
Below are the highlights of Pep's conference:
EVERTON PREVIEW
“John Stones told me how good they are, the quality of the players - he was one month, two months with Ronald - not a long time. He played with five in the first game against Tottenham, sometimes 4-4-2, sometimes 4-5-1. I don’t know what Ronald will do on Saturday."
INJURY UPDATES
“All of the injured players are much, much, much better.
“Some will play tomorrow, some will not. They all trained good in the last few days. I don’t know if they’ll play for 90 minutes. We’ll have to think about it this afternoon.
“I never prioritize games. The next one is always the most important game. I’ll see how the international players are - some recover quickly, some need more time."
RONALD KOEMAN FRIENDSHIP
“Ronald is a big friend of mine so I appreciate his words.
“When Ronald needed water, he’d wake up to water from me. I was younger so I looked up to him. He was not just a roommate, we spent a lot of time together and he was so generous. Not just on the pitch but off it too - I learned a lot from looking at him.
“He was one of the first central defenders with the quality not just to defend. I think Cruyff bought him to teach us why we needed a central defender like Ronald. He was one of the few guys who I never saw miss an important game.
“He always played good in the big games. Against Real Madrid, in the Champions League, he was amazing. He’s one of the best central defenders I’ve met in my entire life.”
FOOTBALL PHILOSOPHY
“At every stage, every club, every country has its own specific things and you have to adapt and adjust.
"I played in different styles against different problems the opponents created in the last seven years and that’s beautiful.
“The way I want the players to win the game is the way I believe. At Barcelona, we were a very good team but during the season maybe we crossed ten times in a whole season. We attacked a lot in the middle for the quality we had at that moment.
“At Munich, it was completely different, we had a big striker and amazing wingers - the way you play depends on the players. But the fundamentals are the same.”
Source: ManCity.com