Player of the Season revealed and huge Bernardo Silva praise – Every Word from Pep Guardiola’s Southampton preview press conference | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has seemingly named who he would choose as his Player of the Season within his Manchester City squad despite the difficulties of the campaign.

A poor run of results midway through the ongoing season and specifically during the winter months largely ruled out Manchester City from claiming a staggering fifth consecutive Premier League title, and from progressing too far in the UEFA Champions League.

As such, Pep Guardiola and his players find themselves competing to simply qualify for next season’s top European competition courtesy of a top-five place in the Premier League, while silverware could yet be on the cards through the FA Cup.

This weekend will see Manchester City take on their last Premier League match before the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, which sees the three-time successive Final appearance makers take on Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace.

The trip to Southampton will also be Manchester City’s penultimate away visit of the ongoing season, as they take on Bournemouth in their last home match and Fulham on the final weekend of the campaign at Craven Cottage.

Guardiola’s pre-match press conference ahead of the St Mary’s Stadium contest saw the Catalan speak highly of Jeremy Doku, Rico Lewis, Josko Gvardiol, and Bernardo Silva in particular, with one of those names regarded as his best player of the season.

Now, following the release of Pep Guardiola’s preview press conference ahead of Saturday afternoon’s meeting with Southampton down on the south coast, here is every single word from the Manchester City manager!

On whether this season has been any different in terms of tiredness due to the lack of challenge for major honours at the very end

“It has been more demanding. Much more. When you don’t win, it’s more demanding emotionally and preparing and the moods and everything. It’s more and more difficult. It has been more and more difficult than the previous seasons that we played for the winning of titles.”

On whether this has been the most demanding season of his managerial career

“It’s been the most difficult, yes. That’s for sure.”

On whether he has a point to prove to himself this summer at the FIFA Club World Cup and into next season

“Every time you have to prove ourselves. When I listen to players saying what I’ve done in my career, I don’t have anything to prove? Completely wrong. They should retire. When it’s done, it’s done. The people pay for the tickets to come to the stadium.

“To do it every time, I have to prove myself again and again. I’m disappointing myself when it’s not going well. When I retire and I review my career, I’ll say OK I’ve been good or I’ve been bad. It could be better, it could be worse.

“But right now, in the game, I have to prove myself. In life you don’t live for memories.”

On what specific areas he feels he has not done a good job this season

“We had a lot of injuries. We didn’t have the energy. We tried most of the time, but we were not able to do it. I didn’t find a way to let them feel comfortable in winning games that helped us to win more games to be there.

“But at the same time, it’s happened. You cannot win all the time in your career. Accept the reality like the normality that is life, and learn, and improve.”

On why this is his most demanding season of his career

“We didn’t win one game, for many months we weren’t able to win a lot of games. It’s demanding and we didn’t win. With this business, you have to win games. Otherwise you cannot be here next time.

“We represent people and a club that you have to do your job as best as possible, and this season we didn’t do that. We were in a high standard and we dropped. Even with that, I would say it could be worse.

“I know how many champions and it starts in September, October, November that they don’t find a way to win the Premier League and they finish 12th. 6th or 7th is fine. But 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th – a lot. Just look at the history.

“Even with that, we were not good, I was not good to find a way, but we didn’t give up. That’s why we are here. We’re still fighting to qualify for the Champions League – that is a big, big, big prize. Everyone has to admit that and even in the final of the FA Cup.

“And we won the Community Shield at the beginning of the season against (Manchester) United. We won one title, we fight for the second, and qualifying. In terms of results after that, I said OK, it’s not been good, I know.

“But it could be worse! Still, we were there. I was there. The players were there. Not our best, but we didn’t give up.”

On assessing the season and whether he looks at what could have been done better, and what could have been done differently

“It’s easy to say. I would say yes, we’ll do differently but that would prove that we would succeed? I don’t know! I’m sorry, in sport, when it’s over, it’s over. You can’t say if I should have done this in a different way, nobody knows.

“The moment the decision was a reflection about many things and we have done it.”

On Jeremy Doku and whether he is becoming more consistent

“The impact is really good. In assists, in defensively, in work ethic, and the impact when he comes on for 30 minutes, how he can change the game. Yeah, he has been really good!”

(More reliable than this time last season?) “Listen, the players want to improve, and they want to love to play, and they are focused, and they want a good spirit – and they are better. Every season you play and you are positive, you are a better player. You are.

“And I think he will become top. He is already. In the final third, when we drop the teams, his ability to do the actions is unbelievable.”

On Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva’s on-field relationship/combination

“Bernardo is so intuitive, so competitive. I think Josko (Gvardiol) has been the most important player that we had this season – without Josko it will be impossible to sustain. These are reliable to play every three days during 11 months in the good and bad moments.

“Josko has been top. And Bernardo, I’ve said many times, with a few other players in the bad moments of the season, always he has been there and been there and been there. And I don’t forget that. It’s easy when everybody is fit, when everything is fine.

“But when you are reliable, being available to play every three days, and fighting and suffering and next day game another one and try it again and try it again and try it again in the bad moments. That means a lot to me.”

On whether nothing much has to be said to Bernardo Silva before matches

“Yeah he’s a player just to say you are playing in that position, he adapts. He knows exactly what he has to do. It’s like Rico (Lewis). There are players that are playing in that position, no. They play football.

“And when they play football they know exactly in which position they play and what they have to do. It’s not necessary to tell them. And when they move, it depends on what happens with the opponents and your mates and the movements of the right moments, they adapt to every situation because they are completely focused with that.

“That is the truth.”

On whether there were any points where he was worried he may not solve the problems at Manchester City this season

“No. Always I thought every time I would solve it, but I didn’t solve it. I said next time, I would solve it, but I didn’t solve it. But I knew sooner or later it would happen, yeah for sure.”

On whether doubts outside the club on Manchester City solving their problems and finding success was any extra motivation this season

“A little bit. The people doubt and the people are waiting. When you win a lot, the people are waiting. You drop and they are happy when this happens. That is normal. The rivals and the people, they don’t like us. It’s normal. It’s part of the game.

“These emotions and the people are happy when they defeat the other one. It’s normal. It’s part of the game. I was more concerned about what I have to do to win games, to help the team, to get the players fit, to do it. I was more concerned about that.”

On whether Manchester City are through the worst they will go through

“Listen, always it’s happened when I was a football player in a tough, tough season when we were in a run with no good results. People said, ‘No it cannot be worse!’ Yeah, it can be. Now we lost three or four games. Listen, no, we can lose five, six, seven.

“On the opposite side, you can win seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. You never know what has happened. The truth is that now we are in a good run of results, in the right moment because I know how difficult it has been so far, but still we are there. So the teams will fight.

“All the contenders that we have, they will fight to win the games, to be in the Champions League next season. And tomorrow we have this experience.”