Man City boss Pep Guardiola bites back after fiery Jack Grealish incident goes viral

Apr 02, 2024 13:45

Pep Guardiola had a fiery conversation with Jack Grealish after the Arsenal game (Image: Getty / beIN SPORTS)

Pep Guardiola has joked that his 'ego' was to blame for publicly confronting Jack Grealish after the draw with Arsenal last time out. It's not the first time the Manchester City boss has dished out a dressing down to one of his players in full view of the TV cameras, although Sunday's altercation was particularly eye-catching.

Grealish only came on for the final half-hour of City's goalless draw with the Gunners. The 28-year-old has not played a full 90 minutes under Guardiola this calendar year, with a spell of disappointing form forcing him to fight his way on from the sidelines.

Sunday's performance at the Etihad Stadium wasn't as impactful as Grealish, or indeed Guardiola, would have wanted. And the manager seemingly made that clear in a heated discussion with him straight after the full-time whistle, complete with flailing arms and stern instructions delivered close to the winger's face.

Guardiola was noted for a similar incident involving Erling Haaland back in August, blasting the Norwegian on the way back to the Turf Moor dressing rooms at half-time. Haaland had already scored twice by that point, and City went on to win the game 3-0.

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Pep Guardiola had a heated conversation with Jack Grealish after the Arsenal game (Image: Getty)

When asked about his apparent habit of grilling players in front of the cameras, Guardiola said sarcastically in his press conference on Tuesday: "I do it for the cameras and my ego. I need the cameras to sleep with incredible satisfaction.

"I always try to criticise players there and let them know how bad they are. Especially when Erling scores three, cameras have to be on me."

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Grealish may not hold out too much hope of being thrown in from the start against former club Aston Villa on Wednesday night. Nothing less than three points will do for City, who trail both Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League title race.

Injuries have hit the Sky Blues hard in recent weeks, particularly in defence, with Guardiola confirming that Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker and Ederson are all ruled out of Villa's visit to the Etihad. John Stones, who was only fit enough for the bench against Arsenal, has been ruled a 'maybe'.

Guardiola believes Man City playing best in Premier League title race

The Gunners ended a 57-match streak of City scoring at home, and Villa's impressive form is sure to pose another stern test for Guardiola's side. The West Midlands outfit come into the game off the back of a 2-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.

"We don’t have many moments where we can drop points now," admitted the City manager. "Previous experience doesn’t matter, [nor] winning games in a row in the past. We just have to beat Aston Villa."

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Man City boss Pep Guardiola bites back after fiery Jack Grealish incident goes viral