Get the latest news from the city team, movement stories, adjustment updates, and research straight to your inbox, FREE
We have newsletters
Get the latest news from the city team, movement stories, adjustment updates, and research straight to your inbox, FREE
We have more newsletters
Manchester City will be world champions on Friday if they manage to beat Fluminense in Jeddah.
City can ‘complete the circle’, in Pep Guardiola’s words, while Kyle Walker says the Club World Cup will be a reward for fans who have followed the club from Maine Road to the Etihad, to Istanbul and now Saudi Arabia.
Winning the Club World Cup will be the “icing on the cake” of City’s other titles, Walker said, while Guardiola also admitted that the Premier League and Champions League will remain the priority. Still, as long as City are in the final, they will treat it seriously and take a look to expand their vaulted trophy case.
READ ALSO: Pep Guardiola sends message to Manchester City about ‘fears’ over Club World Cup final against Fluminense
READ ALSO: Pep Guardiola talks about Manchester City team dinner and Riyad Mahrez meeting
We have selected the topics of conversation before the Club World Cup final between City and Fluminense:
Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz has been dubbed the anti-Guardiola for his approach, but Manchester City don’t deserve to expect defensive opposition at the Club World Cup, quite the opposite. Deniz’s reputation stems from his “anti-positional” stance, while Guardiola’s play stems from the fact that every player knows what is expected of him in his position.
Marcelo, a former Real Madrid and Brazil full-back, says he has never played as freely as he did at Fluminense: “He brings out the most productive in each player. After leaving Real Madrid, I thought I had already had a wonderful career. , however, Diniz made me feel that preference again. “
If the Brazilians attack City, they will be willing to exploit the recent weaknesses of Les Bleus’ defence. Guardiola likes his defenders to replace positions and internal opponents or forwards; however, if Fluminense are anti-positional in rotating their forwards and midfielders, they have the prospect of saving City from gambling their overall game. It may simply be a desirable tactical war between two absolutely opposite styles, but with an equivalent commitment to attacking football.
This final represents a bizarre scenario in which City can reach their highest point in terms of a world championship title, but it is also, at best, only their third precedent of the season. Guardiola summed up the paradox by saying that the Club World Cup would come full circle for City, completing their collection of conceivable trophies. After winning the Champions League and Super Cup, it would be City’s fifth trophy in an incredible 2023, and the 16th of Guardiola’s tenure at City. first coach to win the Club World Cup with 3 clubs, and the first to win it 4 times.
There are already rumours at City of winning more Champions Leagues to turn their domestic dominance and foray into foreign trophies into a veritable dynasty. City – and Guardiola – are never content to sit still, and the Club World Cup is unlikely to replace that. By winning the three-pointer, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden turned their attention to the quadruple. That can’t happen, but two more trophies this season before Christmas aren’t a bad consolation.
Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias have had their eyes on the Club World Cup since the start of the season, and there is already a pedestal in the first-team education centre reserved for the trophy to sign up for the triple trophies and the Super Cup. This will show how successful 2023 has been; however, even if City win, they will simply concentrate on the next name they can win.
Pep Guardiola was asked about City’s chances in the final without their two best players – Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne – and he largely dismissed the question on Friday. “I can’t control what people think, we’re going to try and do a good performance and win the final.” Even if City do win the Club World Cup, there will be some disappointment that two of the most important players in reaching this new height didn’t play a part in Saudi Arabia.
But City played most of the Champions League final without De Bruyne and have only left him compatible for 23 minutes of the season so far. Haaland has missed the last 3 games, in which City have scored seven goals, and Julian Alvarez is expected to be well rested after being on the bench against the Urawa Reds. Their absence is a shame, but it will say a lot about the City team if they can earn the right to be world champions without them.
The loudest cheers of the night in the semi-final came when both men were projected onto the big screen, with a slow pace that didn’t generate the noise of a largely unbiased crowd. Haaland and De Bruyne remain City’s big draws wherever they pass and they go straight to the side when they are fit, so it’s up to City’s other strikers to give the Jeddah crowd something to shout about on Friday. Fluminense fans will outnumber City, which is another explanation for why. The Blues silence the stands and concentrate solely on the task at hand, getting rid of any other distractions.
Kyle Walker was brutally right after the semi-final and told reporters in Jeddah that he was looking for and aware of complaints about his performances. He admitted that he arguably wouldn’t be at his best, but also pointed out that the more open the games and the more the forwards didn’t take on any dangers was the reason for City’s defensive abandonment. He will be willing to outdo Marcelo if he is tasked with advancing, but he can also be held back if Fluminense’s wingers don’t stick to any set position.
To win a World Cup, Guardiola will most likely turn to his experienced players, meaning Walker could retain his place, as well as the call-ups of Ruben Dias and World Cup winner Julian Alvarez. Mateo Kovacic scored his first goal for City on Tuesday and is the only player on the team with maximum Club World Cup experience. In fact, Kovacic will be the first player to win the festival with 3 separate clubs if he manages to add a fifth winner’s medal to his collection on Friday night.
This may also cause Matheus Nunes to seriously fall after an impressive performance on Tuesday, but Guardiola could turn to his experienced players and those who can create a strong backbone. Dias and Stones at the back, Rodri, Kovacic and Bernardo in the middle, and Alvarez in attack could also be the recipe for City’s name.
With two semi-finals played at the King Abdullah Sports City in two days, and intense use ahead of this preview in the competition, the pitch for the final looked particularly shrunken on Tuesday. Guardiola has expressed concerns about the state of the surface after the match against Urawa and expects that to be the case in the final against Fluminense.
Guardiola and his players often raise any issues with pitches – especially in pre-season tours where surfaces can not be guaranteed to be as good as the Premier League standards. Not only can a bad pitch affect the quality of a game or ability of City to get the ball down, but could also cause injuries.
City were cautious against Young Boys in Switzerland last season as they had a plastic pitch, and Guardiola changed the same old Champions League plans of working out at the host stadium before a European away game to get used to the surface. Precautions were then taken and the exercises in Jeddah were located on a field next to King Abdullah Stadium, then inside it.