Pep Guardiola admits Everton ‘struggle’ and reveals what he told players at half time
The Man City boss was relieved to see his side overcome a determined Everton side 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday
Pep Guardiola revealed he loves to win these type of games after his Manchester City side laboured to a 2-0 win over Everton with the Catalan insisting matches against the Blues are “always a struggle.”
Sean Dyche’s men defended resolutely at the Etihad for 70 minutes before ultimately being undone by an Erling Haaland brace. Guardiola proclaimed: “I said at half-time, ‘three games in a row, what do you expect 3-0 against Everton after 20 minutes every single time?’ People say ‘City’s back’ but the reality is Everton, Everton at home.
“Last season we won the treble but we couldn’t win (this game), with Ronald Koeman I could not beat them, like Frank Lampard getting a draw here. It’s always a struggle, we knew it, we spoke about that.
The 53-year-old added: “I love to win these type of games, the difficulty is there. We talked about that, over the years, Everton at home is really, really complicated and we lost a lot of points.
“The thing I’m pleased about the most is something that the people maybe cannot see, the body shape, the positivity, the body language in the second half was much better. In the first half we were complaining – I know 12:30pm (kick-offs) are more difficult – but our body language was not good.
“The chemistry between the players when someone losses the ball or someone is not going well, we have to be better. In the second half we read better the spaces that we should attack, the first half was not good.
“I would say that Kyle (Walker) and Kevin (De Bruyne) make an incredible contribution and Bernardo (Silva) and Jack (Grealish, the other substitutes) as well, especially Jack in the last minutes to keep the ball. We did not concede one shot and I like to win these type of games – suffering and knowing how difficult everything is in the Premier League and life, nothing is for granted.
“Just because you win five games doesn’t mean you’re going to win today. The people are aware of that, the way they celebrate the goals, they showed how difficult it was and how pleased they are.”
