Man City news: Pundit can’t believe ‘amazing thing’ he has heard from Pep Guardiola
Paddy Kenny has hailed Pep Guardiola’s “elite mentality” after he made some “strange” comments after Man City beat Sporting Lisbon.
The former Leeds United stopper, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, insisted the comments were a sign of the high standards Guardiola wants in his players.
Man City strolled to a 5-0 win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday (15 February), all but securing their place in the next round of the Champions League.
However, as quoted by The Guardian (15 February), Guardiola called his side’s performance “sloppy” and insisted “we can do better” despite the heavy win.
Kenny doesn’t think any of City’s players will be upset by the comments.
“To some people, those comments will sound strange,” Kenny told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“I think it just shows the standard the players are working under. It’s an amazing thing to hear.
“The players know this is the case, day in day out. He’s maybe the best manager in the world.
“The standards he holds, if you win 5-0 and still have something to complain about, it speaks volumes. It’s that elite mentality Guardiola has.
“That’s the thing, this City side can win 5-0 against anyone on a bad day so there are always areas to improve.
“For me, sometimes you don’t have to nitpick everything. When I was playing, it was the big mistakes I would want to put right.
“Having won 5-0, I do think it’s strange but they are just the standards Guardiola sets and it’s clearly working for him.”
Man City are next in action against Tottenham on Saturday (19 February).
The Blues could extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table if Liverpool stumble against Norwich earlier on Saturday.
In other news, Jack Grealish’s ex-manager reveals what’s really going on with “suffocated” superstar.