120
(^) Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019
Football
Villa and Southampton. By the
time they go to Liverpool on
November 9, one might expect
them to be arriving at Anfield at
speed. Considering they have won
each of their past 15 top-flight
games — their own record is set at
18, from 2017 — there is an element
of foreboding about how good
Guardiola’s side have become
relative to the league beyond
Liverpool and Tottenham.
Jose Mourinho last week aired
that observation, along with the
quip that only Manchester City’s
reserves could be rated as a fourth
title challenger. ‘I love Mou,’
Pochettino said in response, but it
is no secret that Tottenham under
him are one of the few sides capa-
ble of landing a glove on City.
He doesn’t have the same read
on the City manager as Jurgen
Klopp — Liverpool’s boss is the
only regular opponent to have a
winning record over Guardiola —
but Pochettino does know how to
cause him damage.
There is no obvious conclusion
to be drawn from the symmetry of
Pochettino having inflicted both
Guardiola’s first Premier League
defeat, in October 2016, and his
last in any competition, in the
Champions League in April.
However, where Spurs differ to
most, other than Liverpool, is that
there is zero fear or reverence when
they face City and Pochettino
hinted at another front-foot assault
at the Etihad Stadium today.
‘We have full respect for all of the
teams, from Manchester City to
the other 18 opponents,’ he said.
‘But we have a way that we love
to play, sometimes you can lose,
sometimes you can win. We are
brave, we try to go forward, we
always try to think about ourselves
before the opponent. Maybe that
is the key to beating a team like
Manchester City.’
Of some concern to Tottenham is
that their performance in the 3-1
opening-day win over Aston Villa
was reminiscent of some sketchy
displays at the end of the 2018-19
campaign. Doubtless they cannot
afford another slow start today,
which would suggest a recall for
Christian Eriksen, who turned the
game from the bench against Villa.
The uncertainty over the Dane’s
future remains the biggest thorn
in Pochettino’s side and the Argen-
tine was more frank than ever in
explaining yesterday how that
unresolved issue, not to mention
doubts over the futures of Toby
Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and
Danny Rose, is affecting his work.
‘We’ll see what happens between
now and September 2,’ he said. ‘Like
we can change our minds, a player
can change his. The team is not
settled how I expected it to be.’
However big those problems may
be for Spurs, Guardiola was effu-
sive in praising his opposite
number, saying: ‘Overwhelming,
extraordinary. Even if he doesn’t
believe me, so he’s a top, top, top,
top manager.’
He rates Tottenham as the ‘sec-
ond best in Europe’ after their run
to the Champions League final.
That would put Spurs ahead of
City. This next meeting ought to
show how the true order stands
without the need of a ring.
LEROY SANE has decided against
using Manchester City’s
preferred surgeon, Dr Ramon
Cugat, and will have an
operation on his knee in Austria
this weekend.
Sane ruptured the anterior
cruciate ligament in his right
knee during the Community
Shield earlier this month.
Cugat has been trusted by Pep
Guardiola to treat his players at
both City and Barcelona and has
performed similar operations
on Benjamin Mendy and
Ilkay Gundogan.
But Sane has chosen to go to
Professor Christian Fink in
Innsbruck, a surgeon he knows
through the Germany team.
City insist it is a personal decision
and they are comfortable with
Sane being treated in Austria by
a reputed expert.
Guardiola, though, was unclear
of the 23-year-old winger’s
plans when asked yesterday.
‘I cannot answer that question,’
he said. ‘I don’t know.’
City dismissed suggestions that
Sane’s decision is connected
with a possible £135million move
to Bayern Munich.
Professor Fink has operated on
several Bayern players and is an
associate of Dr Hans-Wilhelm
Muller-Wohlfahrt, Munich’s
team doctor who briefly left the
club following a fall-out with
Guardiola during his three-year
spell in charge there.
Sane is expected to remain at
City while he recuperates
after the surgery, though his
long-term future at the Etihad
will remain in doubt.
I
T is mildly amusing
to note that when Pep
Guardiola was starting
out on an ode to Mauri-
cio Pochettino yester-
day, the other guy had just
finished floating the idea of
them having a punch up.
As is occasionally the way with
Pochettino and his marvellous
tangents, he had actually set off in
the opposite direction.
The point he had wanted to make
was his irritation at the cult of the
boss and the traditional shrinking
of two vast, brilliant operations in
Tottenham and Manchester City
into a clash of just two men.
‘I hate it,’ he said. ‘When you play
another team and it becomes a
fight between one and another
person, when in the competition it
is the whole team.’
That evolved to the joke that
Premier League managers should
play football one-on-one ahead of
CAN POCH
LAND A
PUNCH?
Unless Spurs deal a
KO blow today, the
champs can streak
ahead on points
by RIATH
AL-SAMARRAI
@riathalsam
PEP
17
POCH 3
D 4
HEAD-TO-HEAD
RECORD
GOALS 32 GOALS 16
TALE OF THE TAPE
GUARDIOLA POCHETTINO
48 AGE 47
Spain BORN Argentina
Catalian Stallion ALIAS El Gaucho
5ft 11in HEIGHT 6ft
Supermid. DIVISION Cruiserweight
12st (weight) 12st 10lb
5.2m REACH 0
followers (social media) followers
£132.3m SPENDING POWER £101.5m
(this summer)
428 WINS 231
93 DRAWS 111
63 L0SSES 156
73.3% WIN% 46.4%
SANE CUTS OUT CITY’S
SURGEON FOR KNEE OP
By CHRIS WHEELER
IT may have been
overlooked, but John
Stones was outstanding
against West Ham last
week. He completed 49 of
52 passes, won four duels
and made three successful
tackles. Today’s clash will
be a good examination of
City’s England centre back.
Lucas Moura will test his
pace and Harry Kane will
fire off early shots from
distance while testing his
movement and awareness.
City manager Pep
Guardiola used Stones at
the start of last season but
turned to Vincent Kompany
for their run-in. With the
Belgian’s exit, there is a
leadership vacancy. Can
Stones fill that void?
MAURICIO POCHETTINO cut his
nose off to spite his face
against Aston Villa last week.
He dropped Christian Eriksen, who
apparently wants to make a big
move to Europe, to the bench and
Tottenham looked ordinary
without him. Only once he was
introduced after 64 minutes,
when Villa were leading 1-0, did
Spurs finally look like winning. He
turned them into a different
outfit. It proved his importance
to this side and Pochettino
should not make the same
mistake against City.
INSIGHT
MARTIN
KEOWN
their fixtures, and in time that
became a proposal for a ruck. ‘Like
Anthony Joshua,’ Pochettino said.
‘Let’s create a ring and fight.’
There was a sensible point before
the left turn, and yet as a sub-plot
to the main event, this tangle of
Pochettino and Guardiola is as
fascinating as anything else. The
way they have reshaped their clubs
has made today’s engagement one
of the most enjoyable fixtures on
the calendar and, equally, given an
absurd level of importance to an
August weekend.
That is not to buy into the idea
that the title could ever be decided
so soon, but it is a reasonable
reflection of the make-up of City’s
fixtures and how far ahead they
might get before they meet
another big dog. They follow
Tottenham with Premier League
fixtures against Bournemouth,
Brighton, Norwich, Watford, Ever-
ton, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Aston
MAN CITY
v TOTTENHAM
Kick-off: 5.30pm Etihad Stadium.
TV & radio: LIVEon Sky Sports
from 5pm and talkSPORT.