Josko Gvardiol’s rise is John Stones really OK, wanting Manchester United to win – Every word of Pep Guardiola Fulham review part two

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola discussed a number of topics in the second part of his post-Fulham press conference on Saturday afternoon.

The Premier League title chasers secured another huge win in the top flight at the weekend, now finding themselves just two wins away from a fourth successive crown in England’s top flight.

Josko Gvardiol continued his remarkable rise in the Manchester City side this season, putting the team ahead with a sumptuous solo effort before the score was added in the second half thanks to Phil Foden.

The aforementioned Croatian would secure a brace to seal the three points, while an extra-time penalty from Julian Alvarez added the icing on the cake and piled more pressure on Arsenal in the race for the league crown .

Manchester City return to London on Tuesday night as they face Tottenham in the Premier League, while their top-flight campaign concludes with a meeting with West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking during the second part of Pep Guardiola’s post-match press conference, the Manchester City boss discussed the rise and development of Josko Gvardiol this season, the truth behind John Stones and his support for Manchester United.

Here’s every word from the embargoed section of Pep Guardiola’s Fulham Saturday afternoon review!

On whether he has seen changes in Josko Guardiola’s personality, confidence, how comfortable he is throughout the season

“Yes of course. Definitely. There’s an aspect in football, in all of life, in our lives; it’s confidence. Confidence in the things you do. And it’s game time, a lot of games, talking about the wrong things you have to do and about the good stuff, and you can’t forget that he came to the Premier League, it’s his first season, at 21.

“I would say it’s not easy to handle, and he struggled a bit at first, coming into a team that won the Treble and he was a bit shy, and ‘Oh, I don’t want to break all the structures. that they have with what happened’.

“It’s a matter of time, but he hasn’t come here for a few months, he’s come for many, many years to come and he’s proving that he can, that he can play with us. I said earlier, we gave three days off, everyone after Wolves had three days off, and on Sunday – the first day off – he went to the training center by himself to recover.

“His focus is football and he wants to keep getting better and when that happens, you’ve got something special on your hands.”

If John Stones is okay

“Yeah, that’s fine. Sometimes players step up, others; Manu (Akanji) is playing unbelievable now and Nathan (Ake) has been unbelievable as well. And that’s why (John Stones doesn’t start at the moment).

“When you play in those games in that position; Jack (Grealish) last season played a lot and this season he plays less. In the end, in this team, you have to consistently perform well, well, well many times.

“I know the qualities; with (Ilkay) Gundogan was the first signing when I got here eight years ago, so we know each other like… I wouldn’t say like father and son, but we know each other quite well.

“So it’s a question of him rebuilding as much as possible because we need him in the latter part of the season and of course going forward.”

“In baby steps. In the press conference on Monday you can ask me what you want about it. Now it’s… I’ve got a lot of time, I’ve had a lot of time to see Fulham, now a lot less for Tottenham. Now tomorrow, the focus is on Spurs, Spurs, Spurs.

“When it’s not in your hands, like months ago, but now it’s not the case, of course you can take a look (at opponents’ games). It depends on the other. If you ask me if I want United to win, yes. Please. Of course I want it.

“But it’s not about that, it’s like Arsenal wanted Fulham to draw or beat us today. It is normal. It’s not that you have to be that smart to realize that, but we have to win our games. We know we have two more games, and if we win the two, six points, we will be champions.

“It’s the only thing we have in our heads, the only one. It’s Spurs, Spurs, Spurs, and after that, it’s West Ham, West Ham. And after that, of course we will know the result and what happened, but we have to see for ourselves.”