6 days ago
28
Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland were involved in a long post-match debrief on the Etihad pitch after Manchester City had beaten Leeds on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola played down his post-match discussion with Erling Haaland after Manchester City had beaten Leeds at the Etihad, but hinted that he had wanted more out of his striker in the closing stages of the game. Guardiola made a beeline for Haaland after the final whistle had blown on a dramatic 3-2 win and then had an animated chat with the Norwegian.
Haaland tried to get away from the conversation on several occasions. The chat ended with Guardiola wrapping his striker in a bearhug but it had gone on for a couple of minutes and there were times when Haaland didn't look an enthusiastic participant in the public debrief.
Asked about the incident, Guardiola initially sought to play it down. He was involved in a post-match argument with Bruno Guimarães at St James' Park recently and joked that he confronted Haaland to make sure the cameras were on him again.
"Oh I missed Bruno Guimarães today and the camera and that's why I went with Erling," he joked. "So I love to talk with the players, opponents, referees and so on after the game. I love it."
Guardiola also delivered some strong instructions to Haaland with a couple of minutes to go and City still chasing a winner, and he revealed that was because he wanted his main goal-getter more involved in the game.
"At that moment I want everyone active, I want to shout them all the time," he said. "I shout Erling, I shout Cherki, I shout Omar Marmoush, I shout Phil. Do you know why? Because I want to win the game.
"If they sleep, I will be in trouble. So that's why I shout them. Ten seasons here, they know me."
English (US) ·