Erling Haaland's quiet night in Madrid didn't go unnoticed by his Manchester City teammates, who are already plotting how to ensure the striker is more effective at the Etihad next week.
21.04.2023 - 21:45 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Pep Guardiola hinted at another start for his marathon man Rodri after suggesting that Kalvin Phillips is still not ready to start.
Phillips, an England international who signed from Leeds last summer for £45m, has barely played for Manchester City this season through a combination of injury, illness, and lack of form. The 38 minutes he got off the bench against Leicester last week was his highest total in a single Premier League match for the Blues.
However, that performance was part of a second-half demise for City. The midfielder collided with Ederson to allow Kelechi Iheanacho to get one back for Leicester and was unable to prevent the Foxes coming back into a match they should never have been in; Phillips admitted in a post-match interview that he had had a 'bit of a stinker'.
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Phillips may have hoped to play a part against Sheffield United on Saturday, particularly with Guardiola talking about how exhausted everyone who featured against Bayern Munich was. Their training session on Friday was only 20 minutes as a result, with no time for anything other than a brief chat about how to prepare for the specific style of their opponents.
But when asked about the readiness of Phillips, Guardiola said City have not seen the best of him. Having played more minutes than anyone else this season, Rodri seems set to continue in his role.
"He still needs a bit of rhythm in short spaces," said Guardiola. "We miss the best of Kalvin, that's the reason why sometimes he doesn't have a lot of minutes."
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City dream
Erling Haaland's quiet night in Madrid didn't go unnoticed by his Manchester City teammates, who are already plotting how to ensure the striker is more effective at the Etihad next week.
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