Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hasn’t climbed down from comments he made post City’s Champions League game, where he encouraged the fans to come in droves for City’s Premier League game in the weekend.
City fans didn’t agree to Guardiola’s comments post the game and told the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager, in no uncertain terms, to stick to his job – coaching.
“An interpretation is an interpretation. I am not going to apologize for what I said. It’s not the first time I said in my career — I said it at Barcelona and Bayern. When we played a tough game like Leipzig and play three days later [against Southampton] I know how difficult it is, to ask for us all to do it again on Saturday again. What I said was we need the support, it doesn’t matter how many people come but I invite them to come and enjoy the game because we need the support,” said the City manager on Friday.
Guardiola stated that he was grateful for the fans’ support mid-week and that he only made the comments as he knows that the game at the weekend will be a tough one for his players. He refused to apologize to the general secretary of City’s official supporters’ club, Kevin Parker, who had recently told Guardiola to coach the club rather than criticize the City fanbase.
“People refer to the Etihad as the ‘Emptyhad’. It’s a little bit of fun by the opposition supporters, but there’s no justification for it. It’s not factual. Our attendances are generally excellent. He’s absolutely the best coach in the world but, in the nicest possible way, I think maybe he should stick to that,” said Parker.
Guardiola’s initial comments came after Manchester City’s win against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, where only 38,000 fans were present at the Etihad Stadium – 17,000 less than its total capacity. City romped to a 6-3 win against the German side, but Guardiola felt that he needed the fanbase in full force for Saturday’s Premier League game against Southampton as the players would be tired.
Manchester City has been incredibly dominant since Pep Guardiola became the manager, winning three Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and four League Cup trophies.
City has run riot in the league this season after their first game blip against Tottenham. They have scored 11 goals in three games and haven’t conceded a single goal since their opening day fixture against Spurs.
