17 hours ago
37
Manchester City play Exeter in the FA Cup this weekend and Pep Guardiola's use of the academy has been helped by a youth game last month
Pep Guardiola had plenty to be happy with as he made his way back from Madrid last month. His new team had found a way to win at the Bernabeu, recovering their Champions League position after the shock defeat to Bayer Leverkusen and offering more potential for what they could achieve.
What made the victory even more special at Manchester City was that the man-of-the-match in the game was homegrown academy product Nico O'Reilly. The Under-19s were in attendance at a special stadium to see the converted left-back be the coolest man at the Bernabeu as he helped to inspire an important comeback.
On the return to Manchester, Guardiola's attention was taken by another result. He arrived at the training ground determined to get to the bottom of everything that had happened earlier on the matchday when the Under-19s had beaten their Real Madrid counterparts 4-0.
That in itself was a statement result. Ben Wilkinson's side had got themselves into a spot of bother in the first phase of the UEFA Youth League, but a 6-0 win thumping of Leverkusen following by the emphatic performance in Madrid brought belief back to the squad that they can look to go all the way.
"It was a massive win for us. It's the second year I've been doing the job and one of the things we've been short on is when we play the other powerhouses of European football we've probably not won enough," Wilkinson told the Manchester Evening News. "To be able to go there and win, and win in the manner we did with the convincing scoreline and the performance, was a really pleasing day.
"It was a perfect day for us from an academy perspective. To go and win 4-0 there was a big statement for us and then to go to that [Champions League] game, anyone in that stadium is a little bit in awe and so see Nico look so comfortable in that environment and play so well and show real maturity and be rewarded with being man of the match was an unbelievable day for everyone connected to the academy, to Nico and anyone who has been on his journey.
"For our guys to be able to sit there and see that, there is no better message we can give them than to show them that because it shows them that there is a pathway."
Guardiola does not tend to pay attention to too many youth results because of the environment. Having come through in a country where youth teams play against senior teams, he does not rate the effectiveness of the youth format in England and said on Friday that the biggest problem in the academy is that they 'play in front of 10 people'.
The manager does not need telling how big it is to beat Real Madrid at any stage though, so the 4-0 win became significant and he made his it business to find out more about it. One week after the victory, Under-19s captain Divine Mukasa started in the Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Brentford, star defender Stephen Mfuni was on the bench and midfielder Charlie Gray - scorer of the opening goal in the Madrid win - came off the bench to make his debut.
Gray had earned his start in training that week, but it is interesting to note what it takes to catch the manager's eye. Talent is one thing, but he also needs to know about a player's character and performing against big opposition is a big plus.
"I have to see who they are. I don't want to ask what they have to do, I want to see who they are - and after we will see. It is not about the skills, not just skills. It is about many things," Guardiola said on Friday.
"Let me see. When I am there and watching, I see. And I'm good. And when I'm not good, I have assistant coaches who are good too. With four, six, eight eyes, we can realise who they are. I have to discover them. It is the same with Antoine - we have to see them. That is our job - it's not about doing that or that, you have to play. Show me. 'Show me the money', like the movie."
Guardiola knew in December that he would have to lean more heavily on the academy with the injuries that City had and with Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri heading off to represent their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations. Normally four academy players train with the first team at any one time, this got bumped up to six or seven.
It was the Youth League game in Real Madrid though, and the conversations that were sparked from that, that gave Guardiola what he needed to see how much the academy could help out. Against Exeter on Saturday, they will be utilised again and the protagonists from Madrid could be at the front of the queue once more.
English (US) ·