Pep Guardiola press conference: Kalvin Phillips fitness; Carabao Cup; players adapting to Man City style
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon ahead of his team’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Premier League strugglers Southampton.
Guardiola has won the competition with City on four previous occasions, with the most recent coming in 2021 and will fancy his team’s chances of securing the first major silverware of the 2022/23 English season if they carry on progressing through the rounds.
Here’s a summary of the key talking points from his pre-match press conference…
Kalvin Phillips’ fitness
“He's always ready. Of course, he needed time for some aspects but he’s ready and we are delighted about that. We have to see [if he will start] but I think he's an intelligent player normally holding midfielders so clever.
“He was educated at Leeds with Marcelo [Bielsa] the commitment of every training session and every game. But there are patterns and movements and you need game time. He arrived and had injuries which meant he couldn’t be there but step by step he will get there.”
Importance of Carabao Cup
“It's been good and we've won it. I've said before some competitions are more important than Carabao Cup but we have to try to reach the semi-final, [Southampton] are so strong but we have to do what we can. This is what we’ve done many times.
“Away game… [it’s] better to be at home, they’re in a difficult position with a new manager – we knew with Ralph what a struggle it was. The new manager has changed movements and patters but we try to impose our game and try to win to reach the semi-finals.”
Manager trophy records
“We want to win [the Carabao Cup] but it will not change my life to have more [trophies] than Sir Alex [Ferguson]. It's the same with Brian [Clough] and Sir Alex. We try to do our best and last season we were out in the early stages to West Ham but we were magnificent the way we played.
“After winning a lot of titles, still we are here in this competition, that’s the biggest detail that this club is doing it in a humble way – why choose competitions, whatever happens in the future, nothing will change what we’ve done.
“It’s not just the titles, it’s how many things have been fantastic about the way we work, the way we play, the many games, the high quality after many years. We want to win the Champions League, fight for the Premier League with Arsenal but this is important.”
Difficult for players adapting to Man City
“It's not difficult. The way we want to play is so simple. Without the ball help each other and with the ball be in the right position to get the ball in better conditions. I would say Jack [Grealish] would understand. At Aston Villa, Jack was told do whatever you want. Here is different.
“Sometimes you have a bit more time but we’ve spoken with Jack about positions and tactics, he’s so comfortable in there but honestly, it’s not difficult.”