Manchester City coach is “focusing” on his own team due to scarcity of data on how his counterpart could play
Pep Guardiola is focusing on himself and Manchester City rather than Michael Carrick or Manchester United, ahead of the two sides’ derby at Old Trafford on Saturday.
City face United while fighting to narrow the six-point gap between them and league leaders Arsenal. United are aiming for the Champions League spots and will be wary of falling further back than the three points currently separating them from fourth-placed Liverpool.
United’s approach to the derby on Saturday cannot be so clear pre-match. The club sacked Ruben Amorim last week and interim coach Michael Carrick will be on the red-brick steps on Saturday. Carrick is certain to deploy a different approach to Amorim, notably a change from the much-maligned 3-4-3.
“If you don’t have more info on the opponent, you focus on yourself and the players,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference.
“You can have some ideas of what Middlesbrough has done or when Michael was in his part as a manager at Man United, but tactics is about the players and the players tomorrow are different to the Middlesbrough ones.
“I don’t have a timeout after 10 minutes to tell them what Michael wants to do. When you don’t have info it’s better to focus on yourself.”
Guardiola also reacted to the dismissal of his counterparts at other big clubs. Amorim was not the only one to lose his job this month, with Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca also getting the sack. Both men had lasted little over a year on the job while Guardiola has been at City for 10 years.
“Results, results,” said Guardiola. “If you don’t win, you are sacked. If we don’t win, I would be sacked. We won a lot, that’s why I am sitting here. There is no other secret.
“Another club after last season I would not be here anymore. They are more patient maybe because what we did in the past as well. We had three months that were really poor. The past was really good so that is why I am still here.”
