Manchester City have been second best to Arsenal in the Premier League so far this season.
Pep Guardiola in training with Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland (Image: 2022 Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola knows that his squad need to start acting like Premier League champions if they are to retain their title this season.
Arsenal have led the way this campaign and simply haven’t looked back. Mikel Arteta has got his side playing what many would call City-esque football, with Pep Guardiola’s protégé finally seeing his long-term vision at the North London club bear fruit.
The Blues have had an uncharacteristically inconsistent league campaign and ended 2022 with a lacklustre 1-1 draw against Everton – a side who have scored eight goals fewer than Erling Haaland has managed individually.
The Norwegian found the back of the net once again against the Toffees to open the scoring, yet a wonder-strike from Demarai Gray in the second-half saw Frank Lampard’s side snatch a point. The result left many City fans concerned- with just one point taken from a possible six against Brentford and Everton in their last two Premier League games at home.
However, the Catalan manager has noticed that it was not just the home supporters who were showing signs of disappointment.
“We have to play with 11 – we cannot play with 13 – and every time it is difficult to choose for me because always top players are not playing,” said Guardiola after the draw. “Mainly lately – perhaps as I am older – I look at the body language in the training sessions and everything.
“You cannot play good when the body language is not correct. Sometimes I pick them for the body language, for how happy they look and how they are there. This is one of my main decisions when I choose the line-up.
“With the skills I know how good they are, and they know what we want to do. But the body language depends on them and sometimes they are not good.”
When City are playing well, there is an air of arrogance about them. That swagger has been missing at times this season and Guardiola knows it.
Arsenal have been playing with a level of confidence that has not been seen at the Emirates Stadium for nearly a decade and it is proving instrumental in their title charge. The loss of Gabriel Jesus seems to have been taken in stride by the Gunners, as they refuse to let such a big injury ruin their collective belief that they are in the midst of something special this term.
Having won the league in four of the last five seasons – Guardiola knows exactly what it takes to be successful after all 38 games have been played – it’s time for his players to listen to him.
Jack Grealish responds as Aston Villa player finally ends nightmare
Aston Villa forward Wesley hadn’t scored from open play since he suffered an ACL injury at Burnley in January 2020 – until now
Wesley ended a barren run with a goal for Levante on Tuesday (Image: David Aliaga/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Aston Villa striker Wesley Moraes scored his first goal in Europe in just over three years on Tuesday evening when he headed home a stoppage time winner for loan club Levante to seal a dramatic 3-2 win over Getafe in Spain’s Copa del Rey.
Wesley, 26, joined the Liga Segunda side in the summer on a season-long loan and has played regularly for them since joining, but he hadn’t managed to score in any of his first 19 appearances for the club – before he popped up in the penalty area to glance a header into the far corner and claim a win for his team on Tuesday. It has sent them through to the last 16 of the tournament.
The Brazilian forward has had pretty rotten luck since January 2020, when he was on the end of a challenge from Ben Mee and as a result he suffered a serious ACL injury which ruled him out of the remainder of that season and, in truth, derailed his burgeoning Villa career, which had begun promisingly with six goals in the first half of that campaign.
Since that day at Turf Moor, when Villa beat Burnley 2-1 and Wesley opened the scoring, he has scored a single goal while away from Villa Park. Wesley returned to Brazil and joined Internacional on loan, and he netted a penalty in a 2-0 win over Uniao Frederiquense in January of last year, but this header for Levante was his first goal in Europe, and his first from open play, since that fateful day at Burnley.
His own reaction to the goal, and the celebrations of his teammates and staff, were poignant, too; you could feel Wesley’s outpouring of relief and you can see how delighted his fellow Levante players were for him.
He took to Instagram post match, where he posted a photo of himself celebrating and captioned: “Big win guys, we follow you. I dedicate the goal to you my son.” His old Villa teammate and captain Jack Grealish replied with two clapping emojis and two heart-eyed emojis.
When Wesley returns to Villa Park in the coming summer, he’ll have a year remaining on the five-year contract he signed when he joined the club from Club Brugge back in 2019, for around £25m. It’s believed that Levante have the option of buying the forward for €13m this summer.
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk; birminghammail.co.uk
