Pep Guardiola: City manager laments major concerns ahead of United game

ballervisions 2026年1月17日

Manchester United welcome Manchester City to Old Trafford in the Mancunian’s second game of the season this lunchtime.

The Red Devils will be hoping to get the Michael Carrick era off to the best start by securing their first home win over City since 2023.

City manager Pep Guardiola was speaking to the media before the game, and this is what he had to say.

Injury updates

The Catalan player was asked about the condition of his injured team before the game and he confirmed, “Nico Gonzalez we will see in the afternoon, after training. There is no Occar Bobb or John Stones. If he finishes the third game then Omar Marmoush will be back.”

Explaining his team’s defensive concerns, he explained, “without John, without Ruben Dias, without Josko Gvardiol we are in a difficult situation for a long time. Ruben will be back soon, John I hope we will see.”

Michael Carrick

Carrick will be the fifth Manchester United manager Guardiola has faced in the Manchester derby, and he has revealed his thoughts on what his preparations will look like.

Commenting on Carrick, he said, “if you don’t have more information about the opponent, you focus on yourself and the players, you can have ideas about what Middlesbrough did or when Michael was part of him as a manager at Man United, but the tactics regarding the players and the players tomorrow are different from Middlesbrough.”

He also added, “I don’t have time to shut down after 10 minutes to tell them what Michael wants to do. If you don’t know, it’s better to focus on yourself. The game we played against Chelsea recently with their new manager, the first half was completely different from the way they played in the second half. That’s why you have to focus on yourself.”

The former FC Barcelona manager also had kind words for the United manager, saying, “I would say that a defender and a midfielder have more of a world view than a defender. I’m not saying that a striker can’t read a winger but Michael as a player was extraordinary.”

Five behind

Ruben Amorim has often been criticized by the media and fans for sticking to a back five formation.

Asked to give his opinion on the change in form, Guardiola replied, “If you play with five at the back and it doesn’t work, and if you play with four and it doesn’t work you have to play with five. With four you can play extraordinarily well and with five you can play extraordinarily well. If you change it and it’s good then everyone will look very bad if the players are working well. You don’t look your best if it’s not working well.”

The match kicks off at 12.30 GMT later today in what promises to be a frenzy.

Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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