Pep Guardiola has explained why he never criticizes top strikers after Erling Haaland’s performance against Brentford.
The Norwegian striker silenced his critics by scoring the only goal in a grueling match against Thomas Frank’s side in the 71st minute, following a poor performance against Chelsea last weekend. Guardiola recalled the advice a journalist once gave him and explained why he would never want to comment on football as a profession.
“When I was young, I wasn’t a journalist but an old friend told me ‘the top scorers score a lot of goals, don’t criticize, he’ll shut your mouth’”Guardiola said at a press conference.
Guardiola explained that Haaland had to deal with the recent death of his grandmother. And he admitted that there was no other player he would rather give a chance to, despite his recent failures. “ Sooner or later he will be there. He was away for two months, he lost his grandmother, it’s not easy for a human being,” added the City coach. “If I had to choose one player (to have a chance), I would choose this one. »
Asked by a journalist at a press conference why he never wanted to be a journalist, Guardiola replied : “I am a manager. My life is better than yours. But there’s nothing personal against you.”
Thanks to this victory, the champions climbed to second place in the Premier League and are now only one point behind leader Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side can extend their lead against Luton at home on Wednesday, but City can make up ground when they travel to Bournemouth on Saturday.
