Pep Guardiola hailed “grumpy” Kevin De Bruyne but stated that Kalvin Phillips’ post-World Cup condition prevented him from participating in Manchester City’s Carabao Cup triumph over Liverpool.
De Bruyne created Erling Haaland’s opening goal and Nathan Aké’s game-winning goal, although Guardiola noted that Phillips arrived unfit after a break following England’s participation in Qatar 2022.
The manager stated of De Bruyne, “He was excellent today.” Kevin has been here for eight years, and you know him as well as I do. To perform at his best, he must find the appropriate fire within himself, which I would describe as being a little bit irritable or angry. This is the energy within him. When this occurs, a player who can sprint, create assists, and score goals is more than just a player.
“I am aware that it is difficult to maintain consistency every three days, but today he had something within him that said, ‘I’m going for it, I want to fight’ What can I say about Mr. Kevin De Bruyne? For eight years, he has done everything for this club; he is an incredible icon. He will forever be recognized as one of this club’s finest, greatest, greatest players.”
While his World Cup teammates John Stones, Phil Foden, and Jack Grealish were all introduced as substitutes against Liverpool and another, Kyle Walker, was an unused substitute, Phillips was absent. Guardiola stated, “He is unfit; he did not arrive at training in the finest shape.”
Riyad Mahrez rounded out City’s scoring, but Fábio Carvalho and Mo Salah scored consolation goals for the visitors. Guardiola praised his 18-year-old right-back, Rico Lewis before City was paired with Southampton in the quarterfinals in January.
“We had the honor of announcing that this man will have a major decade, and will be a wonderful player for Manchester City in the coming years because he is so brilliant, so modest, knows everything in a split second, and applies it all. We have a fantastic right fullback on our team for the foreseeable future.
“He usually performs well, but especially against Liverpool, with [Darwin] Nez, Salah, Thiago, and [Andy] Robertson on his team. He has 18 years of age. His playing style was exceptional. He was the star of the show.”
Jürgen Klopp remarked on Liverpool’s performance against Manchester City, “We will not play every three days, but we can do better and will work on it.”
