Pep Guardiola has pinpointed the chemistry between Ruben Dias and John Stones, as well as their ability to cut out mistakes from last season, as the main reason behind their brilliant partnership at Manchester City. Guardiola was reflecting on City’s season to date, with half of their fixtures completed in the Premier League. City are top of the table, recovering well from a poor start to go seventeen games unbeaten in all competitions.
Pep Guardiola said “We have the feeling we are getting better. We are more comfortable; we control more aspects than in some games earlier in the season, when players weren’t fit or had Covid. We had to adjust the qualities. But we are back and getting better – but football is always changing week by week. You cannot think it is done. Football is little details that can be destroyed. Continue the attention. Don’t be disappointed when the results are not going well because the situation is weird. And when it is going well, be calm and think about the next game. This is the best way to approach, especially this season. Now [Stones] is settled perfectly in his life, of course he understands what we’re looking for – we’ve been together since day one. He has a good chemistry with Ruben [Dias] on and off the pitch. One leads, the other one listens to the lead – it’s necessary. When one central defender says, ‘Oh what are you talking about, I know what I have to do!’ – that is more complicated. Everyone accepts the role of the other one. Talk well with full-backs, communicate with people up front. That helps for results. This helps you settle, especially when you are open-minded, generous, everyone talks in the best way, for you, for the team. At the end, the situation works.”
Guardiola also praised his forward players for protecting the defence more this season, and he praised his players for cutting out the high profile mistakes that characterised last season’s struggles.
Pep Guardiola said “The individual quality of our defenders, avoiding mistakes that we made last season. They punished us, they create a lot of problems. This season, the commitment of everyone to run backwards and make an effort, our strikers and people upfront is incredible. It helps us a lot. In the last eight/nine games, John and Ruben help us a lot too. Mistakes are part of the game, but not the silly ones, or the mistakes like ‘Oh my god, what is this?!’ We don’t do that. We don’t make clear mistakes. That helps us to be stable.”
