Pep Guardiola is in the worst phase of his storied managerial career and many factors have been put forth as the reason for the shocking decline in form that the Catalan’s Manchester City squad is experiencing.
The most popular one is that his team is full of old legs, as nine of his core players are aged 30 or older. The Manchester City boss was once again presented with this as a possible reason for his squad’s decline in form at the press conference before they take on Eredivisie side Feyenoord Rotterdam in the UEFA Champions League.
Addressing the opinions as presented to him by the journalists at the presser, the former Bayern Munich boss said: “It depends on the performance,” Guardiola said.
“There are players who are 30 and more than 30 who perform incredibly well. There are players who are 23 who perform not good. I don’t see the age. All teams have players with certain ages.
“The analysis from my point of view right now shows that we are not getting results is not because we have [these] players [older than 30] because a few weeks ago they were the same age and we won the Premier League, reached the FA Cup final and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
“I want to defend what we have done because I know these guys and I never blame one player. There are a lot of factors that make a difference. If I could say the reason why, I’d take [solve] it immediately but it is not as simple as that.
“I learn from these situations, be calm. Sometimes I shout, but the next morning with a coffee, I’m saying: ‘Why am I shouting? Stay calm.’”
Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is one of the nine players in the City squad who are over 30 years old, with the others being Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Ilkay Gündogan, Kyle Walker and Scott Carson. De Bruyne was linked with an exit from the club last season and this season but has continued as one of Guardiola’s most trusted men. His future is still undecided, however, but his recent spells on the sidelines suggest that he may not have much left to offer the dynamic Manchester City.
The former VfL Wolfsburg man was with his manager at the presser and was asked about his future and if Guardiola staying on as City manager could help him make a decision.
“It could be. It could help. Because I know what the future holds [under Guardiola],” De Bruyne said. “And I don’t have to speak to Pep about what’s happening in the future. If it would be a new coach, obviously you need to have a conversation with these people because you don’t know what they want with you.
“Maybe I would have a conversation if I want to speak about my future with Pep because I don’t know what he thinks. And maybe he changes his mind and says: ‘Kevin, thank you. Time to leave.’ But there’s more understanding of what is happening. I know how he works, how he works with the team, how he works with the players. So that’s nothing new to me.”
