Press Conference, Part Two: 17-year-old forward on Manchester City’s radar reveals Pep Guardiola | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that 17-year-old forward Ryan McAidoo is on the radar of the first-team squad.

The Premier League side will be looking to return to winning ways following their disappointing defeat on the road against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, ending a run of nine matches without defeat stretching back to August.

A solitary goal from right-back Matty Cash from a Villa corner-kick was enough to take all three points away from Pep Guardiola’s side, who now have opportunity to perhaps rotate their squad before their next Premier League encounter against Bournemouth on Sunday.

This week sees the four-in-a-row Carabao Cup winners from one stage in Guardiola’s English football management career take on Swansea City in the fourth round of the competition, having dismissed of Huddersfield Town in round three.

It was goals from Phil Foden and Savinho that were enough to progress the side into the game that now separates the club from a place in the quarter-finals of the competition – a tournament that presents the first shot at silverware this campaign.

As Manchester City return to Carabao Cup duties for the fourth round of the competition, here is every single word from the second-half of Pep Guardiola’s pre-Swansea City press conference at the City Football Academy!

On Omar Marmoush acting as back-up to Erling Haaland, and whether it is beneficial that he can play multiple positions: “He was with a long injury and came back, and Omar [Marmoush] and Erling [Haaland] can play together. If we need a winger, a proper winger in the sides, there are players that can be better.

“But when we need a player close to Erling in the gaps between full-backs and central defenders, between positions, the second positions and need the intensity, Omar is the best. If we need a player close to the box, there, Omar is the best that we have alongside there.

“But if we need more players in the pockets, more in small spaces, more control and the other ones, there are other ones that are better. So it depends on what we need in these terms. If we need maybe sometimes in the moments like we had last season that the full-back is wide and the winger is inside, he’s top.”

On the players around Omar Marmoush learning more about him in the No.9 role: “He can play No.9 potentially as well, he can play No.9. The numbers of Erling [Haaland] are so important, it’s impressive and he scored many of the goals we scored.

“But when we need goals, that is sometimes the case, Omar [Marmoush] is important that he’s been back. Look at the few minutes he arrived, for less than one inch is offside and makes the action that we could equalise against Aston Villa. So Omar has this quality, but still he is young and still has a margin to improve.”

On whether – as someone who loves the game – he is looking at the Premier League and thinking it is not as entertaining: “No, football is the same, 11 against 11, the same width. It just evolves, like it’s always a process since football appeared, I don’t know when it started – another centuries and 40s, 50s, 70s, 80s. It’s evolved in details, that is normal and the people, yeah that’s true.

“Using every throw-in like a corner and put 10 players there in the box. We saw the game against… we suffered when we played in Brentford, or Brentford [against] Liverpool we were in the hotel and saw how every action [Michael] Kayode put the ball in the box and after Kayode was Man of the Match.

“So today in football, set-pieces is a threat, but it’s another part like you can say, a tactic, defensive, offensive and many, many aspects and they are. And of course we are working on it or paying attention to it. And at the end I have the feeling that as much as you could play, you concede less corners and less throw-ins.

“And when we concede a lot, a lot, a lot of corners, for example against Arsenal when we conceded a goal it’s just because we didn’t control the game. I remember a long time ago with Sean Dyche in Burnley, that Burnley was an incredible threat in the long balls, second balls. Sean Dyche is one of the best by far doing these kind of aspects.

“So it’s not new, he did it before or Sam Allardyce or I remember when I was not here, Stoke City. I remember Stoke City when they made a throw there, it happened in that time. So it’s not new. Now it’s just more and more teams are doing that, but before maybe Stoke City was the exception.

“I remember I was in Barcelona or Bayern Munich, I don’t remember, listening to Arsene Wenger talk about going to play in Stoke City. But now it happens a lot of times, but I remember with Burnley, it was tough. We conceded one corner maybe, or not even one corner. Why? Because we were controlling the second balls, our pace and our control was much, much.

“And in these kind of games, the best way to defend is in that way. But for that you have to be good in a lot of aspects and we are working on it. And I will until the end, I will continue, continue to work mainly on our game.

“And sometimes of course adapt, when they have to do it – we adapted in Brentford incredibly well, James [French] made an incredible job seducing our players, how should you defend these kind of actions and we did unbelievable, the same in Arsenal.

“And at the same time, when we have our threats and our chances to kick free-kicks and corners, to try to be more productive than we are doing.”

On most teams following Arsenal on set-pieces and so on, but are you wanting to stick to your own principles: “Every manager does what they believe. Of course, I’m not concerned, but I’m focused on that, I want to score in free-kicks, in corners, of course, I’m not naive in that. I want it.

“But what I spend my time [on], I spend time on what we have to do to play better, and defend better, and become better, and attack better, and create the chances, and the one against one in front of the keeper to score goals, defensively you have to be more aggressive in the duels, and all the aspects that I see the game.

“Of course, I pay attention, but I know I’m the manager to try to do what I have done in my career. And now, of course, when we are not good and it’s a threat like Spurs, like what happened with Thomas Frank in Brentford and now with Spurs, scoring three goals and two goals was in set pieces, and the goal disallowed for Everton was in a corner again.

“So all three goals, one disallowed, two was in set pieces, it’s a reality. I’m not, I said, naive to say I don’t pay attention, of course. I don’t want to concede the goals and most of the goals come from there, you know, from these kind of actions, and the people I’m pretty sure spend a lot of time there.

“The goal we conceded in Aston Villa was a corner, and another chance, we have chances, at Aston Villa was a corner. And the other chances was one transition, because we didn’t control well the positions like it happened in Al-Hilal in the [Club] World Cup, but the rest we were really, really good in Aston Villa.

“So I know that, I know it’s an important situation, the reality. Maybe that happened when I arrived, maybe against Burnley or maybe with those teams it didn’t happen. And now it’s a fact. And of course, you have to pay attention to that. But still I dream to work a lot and play; when they have the ball, what we have to do, or when we have the ball, what we have to do.”

On Academy players being involved vs Swansea: “Divine [Mukasa]. (Are you able to say which players will be involved?) Divine. Divine comes with us, yeah.”

On how it works when it comes to selecting which Academy players will be involved, particularly with the Under-21s playing vs Rotherham 24 hours earlier: “Well, I remember in the past with Brahim Diaz, with Cole Palmer, with I don’t know, Morgan [Rogers], there are many, many players – Tosin [Adarabioyo] – many, many players since I arrived from the academy in this competition played a lot and it’s an incredible opportunity.

“I would love to have more players from the academy than could help [vs Swansea]. In the last game against Huddersfield, two brothers played some minutes with us, so it’s really good, a really good competition for that.”

On Ryan McAidoo: “Yeah, he’s on the radar, yeah, absolutely. We talked with Kolo Toure – I want to show – we showed personally – publicly our condolences for his family because his father passed away last week, in the last days. And he’s in his country to make the funeral and Kolo is completely in touch with the academy, not just for the second team, but for the other teams.”

On whether Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush playing alongside each other is a reaction to the way teams are setting up against Manchester City – two could be more effective going forward: “In terms of goals and so on? Yeah, absolutely. You see the chances we had against Everton. We had against Everton seven one-against-ones against [Jordan] Pickford, seven. Against Villarreal we had, in the first minutes, two chances and a lot as well, I don’t know.

“And of course, every player has his own talent, and in the dribbles, nobody’s better than [Jeremy] Doku, but in goals Omar [Marmoush] is better than Doku, and Doku is better than Omar. It’s not that this is one or another one, it’s the skill, the quality.

“And to score goals, we need Doku but to score goals, we need Omar. But all of them they have to defend and in the central position that you fight against [Amadou] Onana and [Boubacar] Kamara, and this balance to find the players, the creative players, to score goals but after that you have to go there and win the duels.

“And when you put the players to win the duels and be aggressive in the midfield, you lose the creativity up-front. And it’s the balance that we are running and we are working and we are smelling what the team really, really needs.”