Former Bayern Munich defender Dante, now at Nice, has been speaking on Pep Guardiola and his start at City.
As reported by FourFourTwo, he said: “The first year can be difficult, because the leagues are so different. In Spain the competition is between three teams, in Germany it’s usually between two, but in England there are six teams, so it is different.
“Pep is a coach who works with 100 per cent commitment to his philosophy, so players need to understand his philosophy 100 per cent, and of course, in England, the way they play is a bit harder and very athletic.
“Perhaps in the first year he is feeling it is difficult, but when the players adapt to his philosophy, to the way he thinks, they will progress.”
With no major signings to be reported on during deadline day, The Guardian chose to focus on Pep Guardiola’s thoughts on his current players.
Jamie Jackson writes: “Pep Guardiola has identified Leroy Sané, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling as Manchester City’s exciting young forward line of the future but warned all of them they must deliver now.
“Sterling was at the club when Guardiola took over in the summer, while Sané and Jesus are his signings. Sterling is 22, Sané 21, Jesus 19 and Guardiola is excited by their youth and potential.
““These three players will be the future in the next three or four years, I’m pretty sure of that,” the manager said.
““The last game [the FA Cup win at Crystal Palace] we played with three guys with an average age of 20. I don’t think in the big clubs in Europe you can find three strikers with an average age of 20. But we have to win the games today.
““People aren’t expecting what’s going to happen in three or four years but it’s good with this huge talent of Raz, Gabriel, Leroy who are so young.””
As previously mentioned, City will face West Ham at the London Stadium tonight and BBC’s Simon Brotherton has given his thoughts on the match.
He said: “West Ham have already been beaten twice by Manchester City this season with an aggregate score of 8-1, but they at least go into this game with the Dimitri Payet saga over and two new signings in the squad.
“City, meanwhile, return to the London Stadium less than a month after handing out an impressive 5-0 thumping when the teams met in the FA Cup third round. It was the Hammers’ heaviest home defeat in a competitive game in half a century.”
That’s all for the media round-up this morning, we’ll have full coverage of West Ham v Manchester City on mancity.com.
