Pep Guardiola break silence and respond to England coach Gareth Southgate rumors of him allegedly using Manchester City players so they get injured in the field as John Stones suffer an injury at international duty during England vs Belgium match

A look back at Pep Guardiola’s press conference on Friday, the day before Manchester City played Arsenal in the Premier League

As Manchester City return from the international break, Pep Guardiola talked to reporters for the first time in two weeks.

The Blues are back with a bang on Sunday when they play Arsenal in a highly-anticipated Premier League matchup between two teams that are both trying to win the title. There was a lot to talk about. During the international window, City picked up a few injuries, and fans were angry that the club raised the prices of season tickets.

A lot of different things were asked of Guardiola at his Friday press session. These are some of the times you might have missed.

Southgate to call

Pep Guardiola almost came up with a new word for “friendly” when John Stones got hurt while playing for his country while he was still new at Manchester City. “Before the international FRIENDLY games,” the boss said, “John played 90 minutes, 90 minutes, 90 minutes and then another 90 minutes, 90 minutes and the body is the body.”

Anyone looking for the same thing on Friday would be let down. The City manager wouldn’t say anything about Gareth Southgate’s choice to give a player who has been hurt a lot this year two games in four days. It was clear enough that he didn’t want to say anything.

How to keep a club going

It wouldn’t have been a surprise to hear Guardiola praise Mikel Arteta, who used to work for him as an assistant. When he talked about Arsenal, it was interesting to see how much credit the City manager gave the club for making the conditions where they can do well.

The players and boss are the same. “They have a lot of power over the game, and each time they get better,” he said.

“You always get better when you have the same manager and the same ideas.” It is harder to win if you change the boss and the players.

A big reason Guardiola has been at City for so long and built such a strong team is that his bosses have always supported him and the club is run so well that he can focus on what he does best. He has said this before about how unsuccessful United has been, and here he praised Arsenal for supporting a new boss in a brave way.

Let the partying begin!

A former Liverpool player has said bad things about Arsenal this season for how enthusiastically they have enjoyed wins, and Guardiola was asked about this. The City manager doesn’t seem to care what anyone does to celebrate after winning a football game, which makes sense. Everyone will be watching on Sunday to see who has the most to cheer about by 6:30pm