Kyle Walker thoughts and a Premier League title admission – Every word from part two of Pep Guardiola’s Bournemouth review | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has touched upon growing frustration surrounding the performances of club captain Kyle Walker.

The England international returned to the Manchester City starting line-up having been excluded from the first-team for almost three weeks with a suspected knee issue sustained during the international break in October.

However, it was far from a joyous return for the 33-year-old who endured a troublesome 90 minutes against Bournemouth and particularly Antoine Semenyo, with City coming away on the end of a 2-1 defeat and three points dropped.

It remains to be seen what sort of impact the defeat could have on the Premier League title pursuit at the end of the season, but Pep Guardiola is of the belief that a lower points tally than previous seasons may suffice for the division crown.

Speaking after the game on a number of subjects during his post-match media conference, part two of the address saw the topic of Kevin De Bruyne’s contract emerge, alongside a discussion around the fixture schedule and the potential number of games to be played this season.

After a second consecutive defeat across competitions, here is every single word from part two of Pep Guardiola’s review press conference at the Vitality Stadium!

On whether the points tally to win the Premier League could be lower this year

“Of course. Absolutely!”

On whether this was inevitable

“Yeah, so if we would have had five more days to recover and prepare, maybe we would have been better, or maybe not, who knows? But I don’t want to put now for the calendar, the argument for the calendar, for many things during the season when we were winning not looks like now because we lost a game.

“The reality; they won, congratulate them. The reality we are living now we lived in the past, the previous seasons, playing a lot, a lot of games. You know that? Maybe we go to the World Cup, arriving in the last stages of competitions and we’re going to play almost 70 games!

“70 games is like NBA, but in the NBA they have four months holidays, and we have three weeks! Because it’s not this season, it’s come from previous season, and the previous season, and the previous season. And that happens and you have injuries for a long time, it didn’t happen before, some of them it happened before. But it’s inevitable, it’s normal, it’s normal that it’s going to happen that.

“Just handle it and be perfect how many I would say, how many training sessions you have to do to arrive as much as well as possible to the game. Our physical condition will get to play in games, games, and games, this is what it is because we cannot do anything, we are not practice.

“But it’s the same like previous seasons, but arrives a moment when you win a lot and everything was the players said, there are moments they said, ‘Wow’, the body is the body! And we have to accept it and handle it the best way and learn from today and keep going.”

On Kevin De Bruyne playing any part against Bournemouth

“Yeah, but Kevin yesterday started to feel better but you know, it has been one month and a half and the game was demanding. Maybe in the last 10,15 minutes for us for shooting we could have done it. But, especially with Kevin, I try to take care of him.

“I have to, you know, when he comes back from five months injured last season, he came back and started minutes, not at the beginning. He finished well, started well, but after coming back again. Of course, we need him and he will be back and try to, in the right moment, and the right you know, to do it.”

On Kevin De Bruyne’s contract

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

On the demands of constant games on him as the manager

“I don’t play, I don’t run. I’m sitting! (Pressure, trying to keep them top?) Yeah, so we won a lot and I know the people expect we are going to win all the time. So it’s the first game lost in the Premier League in 2024 and we are in November, right? It’s unbelievable!

“We have done it incredible but we have to handle situations and circumstances that we have to do it and we will learn from this and we will improve, and I’m fine, still I have energy and I wanted to win today, and yeah, congratulations Bournemouth – that’s the only I can say!”

On Kyle Walker

“Since he arrived this season after the Euros he trained maybe four or five training sessions with us. He can play without no training because his human condition, physicality that is incredible. But of course he needs to come back to a routine of playing games and being focussed on what we have to do.

“I appreciate a lot the effort he has done to come back because in the last 16 days since the last game he played was with the national team with England. He arrived, didn’t train once except yesterday (Friday) for six minutes and made boxes for six minutes, and today he played 90 minutes against (Antoine) Semenyo, all the fast players – it’s not easy!

“Of course, we need him, he’s our captain, we need him and step by step, hopefully he can reach it!”