Pep Talk: “It is what it is, have to pay attention. A mistake now, you don’t have time to recover.”

Pep Guardiola knows the go, go, go of this years schedule will take its toll on players. Speaking i the pre match presser, the Catalan manager spoke about the fixture, injury’s, and how his players are form wise.

Let’s dive right in-

Pep on UCL fixtures

“It is what it is, have to pay attention. A mistake now, you don’t have time to recover. With the World Cup, the schedule is like this, we have to adapt. We know how important our home games are...”

“I spent last night and today watching FC Kobenhavn

. They are really good, well organised. You have to come back to the reality and put our effort to win an important game. Nine points in three games, we’d be so close [to the UCL knock-outs].”

“That’s the problem, after the game against United, it’s the biggest issue. Hopefully I can show them to pay lots of attention. Not easy to break the structure they had against Sevilla. I know exactly what FC Kobenhavn are able to do...”

“They have quality, from goal kicks, when they have the ball don’t just play long balls. They have courage to play, we have to force them to play long balls. Everyone knows. I was surprised this morning how many things they do.”

“Most difficult thing is to do the easy things. We are alone, simple passes and we lost it. These are our principles. You have to pass to Blue shirts, not red shirts. Lately we aren’t doing good, in the important stages... it’s simple to stop it.”

Pep on Foden/Haaland

“At his age, no-one can compete with him, no-one. The numbers speak for itself. Inside the locker room, on the pitch, we see things no on the stats that make us happy to have him here.”

“A lot [of importance to #ManCity], young player, a reality to his performances in these years. We want him to stay for years and years.”

“Exceptional player, grew up a lot. He’s reliable, his physical condition, so intense and clever in everything. Can play every three days. Both know [him and Haaland], they can do better and hopefully they can do it.”

“Normally happens with nice people. A lot of gestures with young players, staff, when it’s going well how he encourages guys. He’s not just a striker scoring goals. It comes from his education.”

Pep on Akanji/Ake

“Really good, we are very pleased. Especially as a person, incredibly educated, the performances speak for themselves too.”

Really good stuff from Pep. Hopeful we can get a smooth win with no injuries in UCL.