Guardiola praises Sunderland, 'demands' Man City stars take it seriously

In a statement on the club's official website, Coach Pep Guardiola acknowledged Sunderland as a challenging rival for Man City. At the same time, he urged his team to limit the frequency of conceding goals like they have been recently.

Man City is preparing seriously for the upcoming home match against Sunderland at Etihad Stadium. This is expected to be a difficult challenge, as the "Black Cats" have emerged as an intriguing phenomenon this season

On the English Premier League standings, Sunderland currently sits in 6th place, just 5 points behind "The Citizens." The strength of the newly promoted team was demonstrated in their brave 1-1 draw against Liverpool.

Observing what Sunderland has achieved so far, Coach Pep Guardiola cautiously commented: "From my humble perspective, Sunderland fully deserves their current position. When a newly promoted team performs well in the first 3, 4, or 5 matches, it might be due to momentum. However, after 14 Premier League rounds, standing firm against experienced and highly rated opponents means the club has real quality. Sunderland operates their system effectively. They have 4 to 5 tactical plans and apply them very flexibly. In this tough league, if you are not truly skilled, you cannot remain in the top group. This will be an interesting test for Man City."

Additionally, Coach Pep Guardiola has demanded his players improve their defensive abilities: "Of course, I am very concerned about this (Man City currently has the highest number of goals conceded among the top 6 teams in the Premier League). Man City has achieved impressive results, but the players need to understand why they are conceding so many goals. And why our performance drops in the second half compared to the first.

I dislike conceding goals, and we must start fixing this. We can improve the weaknesses, but at the same time continue to create scoring chances. If we keep conceding 3-4 goals per match, winning will be very difficult, so we need to play more safely and securely."

Guardiola admits Man City's defensive weakness is due to Rodri's absence: "If he had come on for the last 20 minutes against Fulham, positioned correctly in midfield, do you know the huge effect that would have? Surely you can imagine what I mean. Just his presence, without touching the ball, made the other 10 players feel safer and perform better. We have lacked that for over a year and a half.

We really need him. Some players are irreplaceable, not just because they play well, but because they make those around them better. Teammates see Rodri, pass to him, and know the ball won't be lost. He knows when spaces open, how to switch attacks — that is the difference.”

Related article

Pep Guardiola will not support his home national team at the 2026 World Cup This surprising statement from the coach born in 1971 sparked a strong reaction on social media as Pep Guardiola chose another name over Spain as the champion. See more