Pep Talk: “The way we play, the expectation and playing every few days, it is completely different to when he was playing in Birmingham”

Pep Guardiola is in a good mood as he previewed the Aston Villa match, injury updates and more.

Should be a big match and with the Jack Grealish ‘homecoming’ it will be interesting what the vibe is on match day.

Let’s dive in-

“I would say he has started perfectly,”

“I think it is easier because he knows many English players here and the other guys are nice to people.

“He played good but he has to settle, to find an apartment to live, and settle. Always you need a little bit of time.

“If you analyse the games, has he played bad? Absolutely not. The quality he has, it is difficult to play bad.

“The way we play, the expectation and playing every few days, it is completely different to when he was playing in Birmingham, but he did incredibly well there.

“The commitment to the club was amazing, going into the second division and getting promoted to the first division and staying there.

“He came back from the national team injured and now he will hopefully come back and step by step we will see his best form.”

“We are travelling there, and I can imagine we will face the toughest game possible, that’s for sure.”

“Kevin still hasn’t trained. He was negative for the last COVID Test but could not train,” the City manager revealed.

“We have few players, Kevin will be back but he needs time to be fit. All the people with COVID explain the drain and tiredness and they need time.

“Kevin needs to be fit to show his top quality.

“Jack, yesterday was the first minutes training with the team and Phil Foden too.

“Both will be tested tomorrow to see if they can travel to Birmingham.

“Phil and Jack are still in the same position, the same situation.

“Maybe they can play tomorrow, but maybe not a lot of minutes. The doctor will see tomorrow.

“We are in a difficult position because a lot of players have played a lot of minutes.

“We will see what happens tomorrow after today’s training. Both will be tested tomorrow to see if they can travel tomorrow to Birmingham.”

“We never complain when the players can’t play because of injury or red cards, for any reason.

“I trust a lot all of the squad and when one can’t play, another comes in.”

Some good quotes here. Pep sure does know how to get someone going. Will see how this effect tomorrow.