Pep Guardiola addressed Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win over Watford, revealing midfielder Rodri will be out for a ‘long time’ alongside Kevin De Bruyne who is still not back in training. Guardiola also touched on the recent rivalry with Arsenal, hinting at ongoing communication with Mikel Arteta.
Pep Guardiola cracked a smile as he breezed into his post-match press conference on Tuesday night. There was considerably less interest in Manchester City 's Carabao Cup win over Watford than there was two days earlier against Arsenal , and that meant fewer broadcast interviews to conduct.
ALSO READ: I saw Pep Guardiola's curious reaction to Man City goal - it shows one player still has work to doGuardiola moved quickly to dissipate the reaction, even as Mikel Arteta added some cryptic fuel to the fire on Tuesday in quotes released at the same time as the City boss sat down after Watford. "I have been there before. I was there for four years," said Arteta, apparently hinting at 'dark arts' by City as well as by his own side. “I have all the information.
"This is the challenge, we need that, and different ones. When people say ‘what do you have to play for?’, we challenge a thousand million teams against us and we handle it. What happened against Arsenal belongs all the time against us. People misunderstand me because they don't want to understand me, they don’t believe me when I said the opponents can play how they want to do it.
Then he moved onto Rodri - injured against Arsenal and set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The midfielder is in Spain for tests on his knee injury with some doctors offering a more optimistic outlook than others. But he will definitely need surgery. It was a case of needs-must and doing what was necessary to get through a ridiculous schedule. Guardiola would say he does not intend to 'waste energy' on the Carabao Cup in future rounds, while preaching the benefits of the opportunity to assess some fringe players.
"Always happens, the problem this is a big one. What do you have to do? I’m so sorry, it’s a pity? Absolutely not. Let’s go with what we have to Newcastle to try to win the game and do what we have done for many years. It is what it is, simple as that."
Manchester City Pep Guardiola Rodri Kevin De Bruyne Arsenal Carabao Cup
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