Pep Guardiola is happy for Erling Haaland to show the same edge in the Premier League match at Chelsea on Thursday as he did during the draw with Everton on Saturday.
The Manchester City striker’s frustration at an early Ben Godfrey challenge became more markedly pronounced when fouled again by other Everton players and he was later booked for a scything challenge on Vitaliy Mykolenko.
Guardiola was asked if he would be asking the 22-year-old forward to show a greater degree of self-restraint. “I like it, the extra limit,” the manager said. “Not just him, everyone. His behaviour – you always have to use [the head]. But play with this passion. That is necessary. I prefer that than to be flat. Strikers have to handle tough, tough central defenders. It’s necessary.
“Tomorrow [at Chelsea] he’ll have a battle with [Kalidou] Koulibaly and Thiago Silva. It’s always a big challenge and that’s why the Premier League is so special.”
Arsenal’s draw with Newcastle offers City the chance to close the gap to five points if they beat Chelsea, a victory also extending their lead over the Magpies and Manchester United to four points.
Guardiola claimed that Arsenal and United can benefit from the lack of expectation that is placed upon City. “The advantage of Arsenal and Manchester United right now is nobody has to win the Premier League for 20 points ahead in November like Man City has to – and this is sometimes a big problem,” he said. “I’ve said many times I can’t answer [who will win the title] – but when you play [them] the smell of the history of Arsenal has to be there.
“And with Arsenal winning all their games and you [City] are eight points behind, it can happen. But at the same time, I see the way we played the last games, and the feeling is good. Maybe we play [badly] at Chelsea but the feeling is good. My target always as a manager is to try and play better than the opponent, be yourself and be better than the opponent, and after if you concede one shot and they score and we can’t score you have to accept it and move forward.
“But what I want to see is us still fight, don’t give up, not now, until the last chance, until the last drop of water we can fight to win the Premier League and the moment we are not able to win the Premier League we have to be ready to compete next season. This is when teams are really good.”
Guardiola suggested Kyle Walker may make his first start since the World Cup at Chelsea. “Yesterday [Tuesday] he made the first good training session since coming back. He has niggles and some problems and could not train. Yesterday was the first time I saw the Kyle I know,” the Catalan said.
“He didn’t play for a long time with us. Since the last 30, 34 games, he played I think 11. We need him. Rico [Lewis] is not going to solve the problems, he is going to help us. We know what Kyle can do.”
- Guardian
