Guardiola: Nico now knows what to expect | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola says Nico has been well and truly ‘welcomed’ into English football.

Our new arrival from Porto looked impressive in the opening minutes as he slotted into the anchor midfield role.

But the Spaniard was caught by a heavy challenge that led to Leyton Orient’s early opener and had to be substituted as a result of the impact shortly after.

And his new manager says if our new No.14 didn't know the physicality of the game in this country before, he does now.

“I think Nico got immediately what is the Premier League,” said Guardiola.

“I know without VAR it’s more difficult because they are not used to it and I know it’s a League One side, but there were one or two [missed] actions.

“There’s a penalty [that wasn’t given]. I think Nico now understands perfectly what [English football] is.

“I don’t know how hard [the knock] is, but he could not continue.

“It was tough to finish the game with Rico and Bernardo at right-back and left-back, they are not giants like people I have seen at full-back.

“The first 10 minutes [Orient] attacked really good in the channel and then in the last 10 minutes - apart from that I think we played a really good game.”

City recovered from going behind on 16 minutes to eventually win 2-1.

But the Blues’ boss says playing against spirited lower league opposition is so difficult, and dictating the 90 minutes is almost 'impossible'.

“It was impossible to control [this game],” said Pep.

“In my nine years in England we’ve played many times against lower division teams in this incredible competition.

“The vibe, the crowd and everything. You play in FA Cup and you don’t find it in other places [countries].

“I remember Newport with Michael Flynn as manager, I remember Cheltenham and many others.

“Always we behave really good. We were lucky at the end because they create chances, but we created a lot, and their goalkeeper was really good.

“It was a tight game, but we knew it would be with the [style] that they have.

“We played with character, and we are in the next round and it’s always nice. In the last four or five years, we have been in semi-finals all the time.

“It’s good to continue.”