The Football Faithful
·28. November 2024
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Yahoo sportsThe Football Faithful
·28. November 2024
Arne Slot has backed Pep Guardiola to turn around Manchester City’s slump but joked he hoped it would come after Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.
Liverpool welcome the champions to Anfield this weekend in a huge clash for both teams. The Reds top the table and can move 11 points clear of Manchester City with a win this weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s side have not win in six games across all competitions and head into the fixture after three straight Premier League losses. In midweek, the Citizens blew a three-goal lead to draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League.
Liverpool in contrast, have been buoyed by beating Real Madrid. The Merseysiders have won 14 of their last 15 in all competitions and have lost just once since Slot’s arrival as manager in the summer.
However, Slot is not ruling out ‘one of the best in the world’ in Guardiola coming up with ‘another brilliant idea’ to turn City’s season around.
“Everybody is looking at their results but if you face them, you analyse it. They were 1-0 up against Brighton and could have scored one or two more. They could have been two or three goals up against Tottenham and against Feyenoord – that has not happened many times,” Slot said at his pre-match press conference.
“They are still a very, very good team and one of the reasons why I think Pep Guardiola is one of the best managers in the world – I think he is the best – he always comes up with solutions for his problems. We all know he will come up with a solution but hopefully after Sunday.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he came up with another brilliant idea. I think he was the one that started playing inverted full-backs, then he was the one that started playing a centre-back as a six, so I don’t think it will be a surprise if he comes up with something nobody has ever thought about before to make his team even stronger.
“It is one of the reasons why he has inspired so many managers around the world. When he came up with it we thought it was crazy and then we all tried the same because it was a brilliant idea.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he came up with something again but let’s wait and see because many things have been done in football now but if there’s anyone in the managerial world that can come up with something new, it’s definitely him.”