Man City: Pep Guardiola says he must care for players like a parent

Striker Erling Haaland will not travel to West Yorkshire after being taken off at Arsenal in the 76th minute because of a back issue, but Guardiola is hopeful the Norwegian “will be fine” for the Premier League game against Burnley on Saturday.

Abdukodir Khusanov went off at half-time at Emirates Stadium, while Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush are out and it remains to be seen whether Rayan Ait-Nouri can recover in time from a knock.

City were disappointing last season, failing to win a major trophy, and suffered back-to-back defeats before the international break, but have responded by going three games unbeaten in all competitions.

“Since I started as a manager from the second team at Barcelona until now, I always asked for one thing – I want the players to give everything to the pitch,” Guardiola said.

“Last season we didn’t do it in some moments and this season, especially from the USA and since United, we started to recover many things that defined our team for many years.

“When this happened [conceding an equaliser at Arsenal], I could not care less about the fact that we could do better. Yes, we could make better decisions – we will do it.”

Midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who has spent the past two seasons on loan at West Ham and Ipswich, is unlikely to feature at Huddersfield because Guardiola said he is in London “to become a father for a second time”.

Guardiola’s tactics were questioned on Sunday after he reverted to a 5-5-0 formation in an attempt to claim victory, while City’s 33% possession was the lowest he has overseen in 601 top-flight matches as a manager.

“I’m really proud, satisfied,” he said.

“We recovered many things that we missed last season. We had an incredible spirit. Of course we cannot sustain all season to play in the way we played, and we don’t want to, but I give incredible power to the opponents.

“Arsenal, for most of their games, are able to do that to other opponents, and I want to learn to celebrate when we draw a game in the way that we did away against Arsenal, who are a big contender and reached the semi-final of the Champions League. I want to celebrate that point.”

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