• Manchester United v Manchester City, 8pm, BeIN Sports HD
Pep Guardiola did not look a manager on the brink of reaching an unwanted landmark, nor one who enters a Manchester derby against a manager who has shown an uncanny ability to rile him in the past.
Manchester City have gone five games without a victory and a League Cup defeat to Manchester United, and Jose Mourinho, would send them out and Guardiola into uncharted territory.
Yet while he spoke with quiet intensity, his natural confidence radiated. Short-termism will not prevail. Guardiola can see the bigger picture and the temptation to select all of his premier players will be resisted. “We are going to rotate,” he said.
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Guardiola’s world is one of endless possibilities. He will go to Old Trafford without the injured Kevin de Bruyne and the omitted Claudio Bravo. The Chilean, despite his harrowing return to Barcelona last week, is being rested, not dropped. Willy Caballero, who secured City the trophy last season with a hat-trick of saves in the final shoot-out against Liverpool, retains his place in this competition.
Guardiola remains undaunted by setbacks. “We cannot forget how good we play even in the last games,” he said. “We are better than the opponents. I am so optimistic.”
The one hint of regret referenced City’s propensity to gift goals with their attempts to play their way out of every situation. “We are doing a lot of good things but of course we need a victory as soon as possible,” he said. “We need to differentiate when we can play and when we can’t.”
But Guardiola’s belief in his tactics remains intact. City have played 3-4-2-1 in their last two Premier League games, being held at home by both Everton and Southampton, yet whereas it may seem a gamble to have fewer defenders, the Catalan believes it is less dangerous. Incorporating an extra midfielder, he argued, is a pre-emptive strike.
“Always when you play with three [at the back] you have one more man in the middle and you concede less counter attacks,” he said. Yet as he conceded, there are some matches where a fourth defender is necessary. “Barcelona’s strikers and wingers play so wide, you cannot play with three,” he said. “It is too risky, especially with the quality of them you cannot play one on one but with Southampton they play narrow.”
It means much rests on United’s approach, especially with Guardiola denied of his two senior right-backs, in Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna. He is wary of the counter-attacking pace of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, two men Mourinho could use to stretch the game.
The 19-year-old right-back Pablo Maffeo could come in, while his fellow Spaniard Aleix Garcia, who scored in the third-round winner at Swansea City, is another youngster who may feature. To field too many rookies, however, could be counterproductive. “It is not a good idea because we have to protect them,” Guardiola said.
United’s 4-0 defeat to Chelsea will not lure him into complacency. Nor will his record of beating United in two Uefa Champions League finals and September’s league meeting. “I always expect the best from United,” he said.
They could face City’s best goalscorer. Sergio Aguero may have been benched against Barcelona but, despite speculation to the contrary, Guardiola reiterated his desire to keep the Argentine. “I am so happy with Sergio,” he added. “I want from deep in my heart that he can stay here. He is a special player, a striker who scores millions of goals in his career.”
Impressive statistics are not confined to the striker. Guardiola is a manager who has set records. Now he is seeking to avoid a milestone.
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