‘My players aren’t hungry’: The day Guardiola touched the pride of City players and woke up the beast

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He Manchester City he will try to win the Champions League once and for all, which was so often elusive. by the hand of A Pep Guardiola increasingly surprising for their tactical successes, they eliminated Real Madrid in the semifinals by giving them a 4-0 victory. The superiority from start to finish against the reigning European champions once again confirmed the coach’s skills, even going so far as to generate memories of that Barcelona he directed. But while he crushed the big cuckoos on his way to La Orejona, all has not always been rosy for Guardiola and his team this season.

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In January this year, Manchester City’s performance was not the best. They lost the classic to Manchester United, were knocked out of the League Cup by Southampton and Arsenal were the team top of the league table. And being at that moment 5 points off the top, after a 4-2 win against Tottenham -in which they lost 2-0-, Pep exploded against his players.

We lost 0-2. Since we lose 0-2, then we fight back. So yes, we are able to do that. But there is no energy, there is no passion. Arsenal, passion… they kill on every ball, we don’t. We play well. Oh, how well we do the ball release, the pressure… but there is something inside that we don’t have“, ex-coach Culé condemned, showing that not only the possession game is what matters to him.

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He also took advantage of the moment to take it out on the English fans: “I’m happy with the away fans, but at home they can’t keep quiet for the first 45 minutes. In the second they showed fire, guts, courage… I need my fans to come back“.

Pep and the passion that characterizes him in each of the matches.  Photo: Oli SCARFF / AFP.

Pep and the passion that characterizes him in each of the matches. Photo: Oli SCARFF / AFP.

Although he complained in his usual calm tone, the statement seems to have resonated behind closed doors, at least given the effect it generated. The coach’s discontent transformed and made the city team evolve.

Since that meeting, the Citizens’ performance has taken a 180-degree turn. The stats show it like this: 23 matches were played by the English after Guardiola’s reprimand, in which they achieved 17 wins, 4 draws and only 1 loss. Among these duels stand out a 3-0 against Bayern Munich, a 4-1 against Arsenal to snatch the first position in the Premier League and the last 4-0 against Real Madrid.

The fans also gave an answer to the Spaniards too. In the match against the Merengues, they welcomed the team with a mosaic and fervently waved blue flags in the last minutes of the match to celebrate the transition to the second Champions League final in history.

Guardiola, exalted by the qualification for a new Champions Cup final.  Photo: Martin Rickett/PA via AP.

Guardiola, exalted by the qualification for a new Champions Cup final. Photo: Martin Rickett/PA via AP.

Pep’s wishes are orders, but if they are not fulfilled, he always finds a new trump card that ends up victorious. “There’s no way we can win the Premier League if we keep playing like this.With the championship upon us and a Champions League final on the horizon, once again the coach’s hand had an effect.

The memory of the day Guardiola made his players react

Source: Clarin

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