Pep Guardiola responds to Bruno Fernande’s comment on Manchester United ending Man City’s dream treble
Pep Guardiola has a message for Man United and also for Manchester City fans ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Pep Guardiola understands why Manchester United are motivated by the chance to end Manchester City’s treble hopes on Saturday but has told the Reds they must match his side at Wembley if they maintain their 1999 success.
Premier League champions City are just two games away from emulating Sir Alex Ferguson’s great side United as three-time winners, but United’s current side can stand up to their rivals by winning the FA Cup final on Saturday. To add spice to the preparation, United midfielder Bruno Fernandes said his team-mates were aware of their fans’ fears that City could win the treble this season.
Fernandes said: “We know the history of our club and we know the fans don’t want City to do this.” We know that if we win the trophy, the consequence is that Man City can no longer make the treble. But from the player’s point of view, it’s all about winning the game because we want to win a trophy for ourselves, for the club and for the fans. That’s all.”
In response, Guardiola said: “I haven’t spoken to Bruno Fernandes and company to find out exactly why it means the most to them, the emotional reason why they will play in the final. I don’t know.”
“I could understand it, it’s theirs. This is normal. Sports are like that. Records will be broken. “That’s ours. We don’t want anyone else to do it.’ So it’s normal, that feeling. This is quite understandable. But it’s a football game, whoever is better will win.
As much as United fans want to win the final to prevent City from winning the treble, as much as City fans want to rule out United to keep their treble dreams alive. However, Guardiola warned his fans and promised to do everything to win the trophy for them.
“For city fans? Yes [it’s big]. Final. But they are having fun these years and this season,” Guardiola said. “I will ask our fans, firstly, to behave properly and secondly, to go out there and enjoy an incredible event.” Players will give their all to beat Man United.
“The consequences and the outcome, who knows.” I do not know. Erik ten Hag doesn’t know, so it will be a football match. Enjoy the moment.
When people travel and unfortunately the train strikes again, and they have fun and have fun next week preparing for the [Champions League] final, he dreams of seeing the team. It’s the best way. “It’s a game of football, anything can happen. We will do everything to beat United. I totally understand because City fans have stood in the shadows behind United for decades and played a final against them. for the first time in FA Cup history.” Try to make the best match possible. Have fun, enjoy the right amount of beer before the game and that’s it and enjoy.
Also…
‘There are problems’ – Erik ten Hag opens up on David de Gea’s role at Manchester United
David de Gea was responsible for another defeat for Man United in their 2-1 FA Cup final loss to Man City at Wembley Stadium.
Erik ten Hag has admitted there are “problems” with Manchester United’s style of play as David de Gea’s role comes under scrutiny again.
De Gea was beaten by Ilkay Gundogan’s life-saving shot which restored Manchester City’s lead and eventually secured a 2-1 win in the FA Cup final.
United are believed to be close to agreeing a new deal for 32-year-old De Gea but the encounter was littered with mistakes by the Spaniard which cost United a Europa League loss to Sevilla and a defeat at West Ham.
De Gea was handed the Golden Glove award for most goals conceded in the Premier League, but United’s numbers are unconvincing about his No.1 status beyond this season. “At the moment I don’t want to talk about such criticisms, because we all played a great season, including David de Gea,” said Ten Hag. “He played a fantastic season.
“If you consider that before today, both City teams had 42 wins and now they have one more. So the difference was made today and you can see we’ve played a fantastic season and it’s more than we expected.
“We finished third in the league, qualified for the Champions League, won a trophy and were in the final again, so I’m very happy with my team’s performance.”
When asked about De Gea’s problematic split, Ten Hag replied: “Put it this way: we are on the right track. But there are situations in the game, problems in the game, we absolutely have to improve if we want to take the next step and win trophies.”
Ten Hag described Gündogan’s two goals as “sweet”. The German scored the fastest goal in an FA Cup final with an opener 12 seconds past two headers from Stefan Ortega.
Gündogan’s second goal came directly from a Kevin de Bruyne free-kick on the sidelines. “We win together, we lose together,” repeated Ten Hag. “There were two moments when there were dead balls – one at kick-off and one after a free-kick wide.” You cannot be a target. We need to be better organized there.
“As a team, we didn’t do the job we needed to do. And if you want to win trophies, in big games it’s the details that make the difference and that’s hard to accept, but we have to do it.”