admin Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola may not have been at the Etihad on Saturday but still made sure his voice was heard.
Pep Guardiola congratulated the Manchester City players away at the Etihad Stadium immediately after their 5-1 win over Fulham.
Guardiola is resting at Barcelona after undergoing back surgery that has seen him miss the last two Premier League games under assistant coach Juanma Lillo.
His absence hasn’t affected the progress of the team, which leads the table with 12 points from 12 at the start of the season.
Lillo, who returned to the club this summer after a year in charge at Qatar, made it clear he does not like being promoted to assistant coach and confirmed Guardiola will continue to play a key role in preparing the squad. “Pep is still here,” she said. Lillo was in constant contact with the coach throughout the week to ensure they were prepared to his liking.
City managers wore headsets during games so Guardiola, who was watching the games from afar, could communicate his ideas to them and the players.
And while the manager could have left Lillo a message in the dressing room after the game like he did before the game, the Catalan instead contacted the squad via Facetime to let them know what he was up to.
In typical Guardiola fashion, he called on all players to avoid injury during the international break and praised his performance against Fulham.
City will hope injury woes ease in the coming weeks as the transfer window confirms another small squad for the season. Even if the manager doesn’t like a large group of players, it’s risky not to expand the squad when this season’s Club World Cup only increases the commitment and workload of all players.
Jack Grealish is on the bench alongside John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne against Fulham after picking up a minor hamstring injury that will likely rule him out of future England games.
However, there is hope that Grealish and the Stones, along with Guardiola, will return immediately after the international break to bolster the manager’s selection plans.
Those injury issues have not prevented a perfect start in the Premier League though, and Guardiola’s address to his players after the Fulham game backs up Lillo’s point about how involved he is even when he isn’t physically there. The manager’s desire and motivation remains critical to City’s chances of success, and is also being used by the players to keep them motivated for more victories.
“The feeling of winning doesn’t get old. When you’re walking up the steps to Wembley or lifting up the Super Cup or any other trophy, it doesn’t get old,” full-back Kyle Walker said on Saturday.
“The manager has won a fair few things and knows what to do with the team. He brings new faces in a the right time at the right position and that keeps the hunger for everyone spreading across the team.”
