Major Jeremy Doku injury update and life at Manchester City beyond Txiki and Pep – Every word from part two of Pep Guardiola’s pre-Southampton press conference | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has issued a significant injury update on Jeremy Doku, among other subjects in a wide-ranging press conference on Friday afternoon.

The Manchester City manager has been looking ahead to the latest encounter to face the Premier League champions, as they hope to further extend their unbeaten start to the new season and close the gap on league leaders Liverpool.

The last outing saw goals aplenty at the Etihad Stadium as Sparta Prague succumbed to a 5-0 rout from Manchester City to take the club up to third position in the league table in the UEFA Champions League.

As for the Premier League and it was a late John Stones winner in the 95th minute at Molineux that claimed all three points and completed a dramatic turnaround for Manchester City to remain the only unbeaten side in the division.

Among the subjects to be discussed by Pep Guardiola were the club’s incoming Director of Football Hugo Viana, life at the club without him and Txiki Begiristain, and the growing injury situation facing his decision-making on squad selection.

Speaking in the second half of his pre-match press conference at the City Football Academy on Friday afternoon, here is every single word from the Manchester City manager whilst addressing the media!

On the importance of being patient and also switched on for Erling Haaland

“I think he is like that. I know Erling’s second goal that he scored, the transition that they did, the team was high, they made a good build-up, the clever runs from Phil (Foden), from Matheus (Nunes), from him, I know this.

“But I’ve said many times, it depends on the opponent, and what they decide to do against us, and in that moment I know the space is minor, I’ve said many times. It’s five in the box, three central defenders, people in front of the central defenders – surrounded by five or six!

“To create chances depends on his mates, how they move, how they make the movements to spread all the structure of the opponents around the 18-yard box, and of course the space is minor and the balls don’t come, and you have to be patient.

“He has to be like that, it’s the only solution. If he disconnects, if he should have been disconnected for example in the last game, he could not have scored the first goal. Impossible. Stay there, stay in the game, and sooner or later your mates are going to help you to score.”

On how Erling Haaland stays connected to the game when he’s not involved

“No, he has to be what happened, read the spaces, especially defensively, be involved. Football is not just, ‘I’m here to score the goals’. When you are involved in your tasks to help the team and be aggressive in the first two actions, you are connected.

“Football is not offensive or defensive, everything is related. I’ve said many times, I’m pretty convinced of that – if you are aggressive, you pay attention, your throw-ins in defensive you are there. This kind of things, after with the ball you are better. You are in a margin of seconds quicker, faster, wiser to take the right decisions.”

On whether this is where Erling Haaland improves as he gets older

“Yeah, of course. But I’ve said, his average in scoring goals is quite impressive, I would say, the amount of goals he’s scored. It’s because of course in 90 minutes there has to be moments that you are maybe disconnected, it’s normal. But in general, always he has been there.”

On whether Erling Haaland is now over the phase of picking up ‘niggly’ injuries

“He feels better, yeah. I have the feeling this season that he feels better, recovers better, and feels better. He’s an incredible professional in that terms, he takes care really well. I have the feeling that he feels really, really, really good in those terms.”

On whether that is something that has been worked on over the summer

“Well, he didn’t have the Euros, unfortunately for him and for Norway but I would say that he had one month and a half of rest and made a good preparation, and had incredible guys that helped him here in what he needs. Not just him, all of them, but especially him.

“And he’s focussed more than ever on what he has to do every three days, and he feels – especially in the first season after he arrived, after the game he was so exhausted and needed time to recover.

“And we cannot say it was bad the first season, he scored a lot of goals and we won the Treble, it’s not about that. But I have the feeling that, he speaks with the guys, ‘No I feel good, I feel good’. Because of course without…

“Phil (Foden), now, is starting to get better, and without Oscar (Bobb) the potential players can play striker, how good they move in small spaces, how good they are in front of the goal. So Oscar is not here yet, and Phil is getting better, so right now he’s a really, really important piece in our team.”

On whether he is happy with the way the players are responding to him after nine years

“Yeah, yeah, a lot. I’m impressed. I never thought when I arrived after nine years, and even in the ninth season, that still we are with this amount of consistency in our game. And still creating more than the opponent, conceding less than the opponent.

“This balance is so good, and I saw again four or five actions our backwards was unbelievably good. I could not be more thankful to these players that still they defend what we want to try to do and the way they are doing it.”

On having no concerns when it comes to this specific factor in relation to contractual talks

“Yeah, I’ve never had doubts about that, because I saw a month ago this season, when I said I see them in training sessions every day, and still they are alive, they feel it, they enjoy to come here to train and play the games, everyone wants to be involved.

“A few teams as well, not just here in England, I would say in Europe, a lot of injuries and everywhere. We are just 15 players, 14 players plus Nico (O’Reilly) from the Academy, and OK, we are in difficulty, we have a lack of players to rotate, to give rest, so we have to take care more. And still they do it! They make a step forward!

“They have an incredible mentality most of them, they are so strong, so competitive. There is a tendency to relax, always they have this concern, ‘Oh we won again, what is going to happen’, how you drop when you win. I don’t see winning or losing, I’m not saying that, performing well or bad, I don’t see the fact that they are dropping.

“Everyone pushes eachother, they push me, I push my staff, they push me with ideas, with new things, the players I push them, when I don’t like I tell them and they accept it well because defending everything for the team.

“They accept well compliments, they accept well the compliments from the media, the criticism from the media, they forget immediately winning or losing, onto the next, what’s next. They’re huge competitors. We have a group of players with incredible mentality, I’m not talking about the skills. Mentality wise, they are really, really good.”

On whether the players should be like this because they’re paid a lot of money – that’s their job and this is a base expectation

“Yeah… You never know when you buy a player, and I think Txiki (Begiristain) will be surprised as well and hopefully our chairman as well. I’ve said many times, this is an exception, this is not normal.”

On whether all football players should be like this as it’s their job and they’re paid a lot of money

“Yeah but they would play football with less money than they get paid. They love what they do. They didn’t become… Always I try in my mind when I’m in the training session, they didn’t decide try to become football players or they were not in the streets when they were young to make box-to-box exercises, or go to the gym.

“They decided because they want to play with the ball, that’s why they want to do that and they love to do that. And of course it’s absolutely incredible what they get paid because it’s generated when the people love that sport, it’s as simple as that, no more difficult to understood it. But they would do it anyway, they will do it anyway, because they like it, that’s for sure.”

On whether next summer is a big summer for Manchester City given the potential contract expiries, Txiki Begiristain’s exit, and possibly his own exit or not

“It’s a good question for Hugo Viana and Txiki. But I think every summer is something always that the club has to be ready. You pretend everything is fine, everything, a young squad and apparently there are two, three, or four players that knock on the door to say, ‘I want to leave. I don’t play. I’m not happy here. My family is…’, whatever.

“You have to be ready! I think the clubs always have to do it, and of course there are players with certain ages and we have to see what happens. But I’ve said, always it has been, I give my opinion of course, but this is a question for sporting directors.”

On whether he was consulted on Hugo Viana being a good appointment, as his relationship with him would be important

“No, I gave my opinion yeah, many things I give my opinion. But the club… You know, I have my opinion, but the sporting director from the stands always has an opinion as well. It’s the same importance.

“We try to, ‘No because I’m a manager and I decide’, or you are a sporting director and you decide, we try to understand why it’s good or not, we doubt a lot, we talk a lot about what is the best, and all sporting directors, all the managers, all the clubs, you make a good decisions and always you make bad decisions.

“Nobody is safe from that. Nobody. Because it depends on many factors why one player can suit good in a good position. But I’ve said many times, I think even the players feel it, the club is well run, the structure is good, and the solid clubs don’t depend on one figure or another figure. When the club is strong, it doesn’t matter otherwise we will not be good.”

On whether he has spoken to Hugo Viana

“No.”

On whether he knows Hugo Viana personally

“No. Txiki club.”

On whether he is concerned about the number of players he is currently working with given the injury situation

“Now, yeah. For one game, two games, it’s fine. For a long, maybe three games, now we have a tough period, after this game we have four days but after it’s three days to Bournemouth. Knowing how difficult and demanding it is.

“Going to Lisbon, three days, and after we come back and in three days we go to Brighton. So it’s just 14, 15 players, yeah of course I am (concerned). But… I said last season, if it would be easy, one team would win four in a row, this is the challenge.

“Every season there are difficulties, we had it in the past with important players injured all season like this season unfortunately with Rodri. But that is what it is. Perfect scenarios never, ever exist in sport. Never, ever.”

On whether Jack Grealish or Jeremy Doku could be back before the next international break

“Jack, yeah, I hope so. I hope so, but Jeremy I don’t think so.”

On whether both injuries were sustained against Wolves

“Jack was in training, the day after (Wolves), in one action. And Jeremy I think was Wolves.”

On whether the structure in place at Manchester City, even without Txiki Begiristain AND himself, is enough to maintain success

“Yeah. Because when it’s going bad, they will find a solution immediately. They will react, they will be patient, they will be calm, and they will know what they have to do. Yeah, absolutely. I don’t have any doubts about that, zero doubts.”

On whether it was always the idea to build something to go on for a long time into the future

“But that is normal when it happens for a long time, Txiki (Begiristain) for 12 years, or me in my case, our case, it’s normal it looks like, ‘Oh we cannot live without that’. Of course we can live! Life is moving on, the earth… it continues going around.”

On the impact of Sir Alex Ferguson leaving Manchester United and what followed

“I’m not there! I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was… I don’t know! What I’m pretty sure that it’s not going to happen (at Manchester City). I know how it works. It would be a bad, bad sign for the club if for just one or two persons, or one player leaves, and after everything, the structure falls down.

“Listen, it’s going to happen. For sure, because maybe I can make a mistake but during the mistakes they are going to solve it and the mistake will be solved immediately. That’s for sure. Because the guys know exactly, the hierarchy, the guys know exactly what they have to do.”