Oscar Bobb and John Stones injury and surgery update, Claudio Echeverri’s future – Every Word from part two of Pep Guardiola’s pre-Tottenham press conference | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has offered some positive updates on both Oscar Bobb and John Stones’ respective injury problems during his latest address with the media.

The Manchester City manager has been finalising his preparations ahead of his side’s next Premier League clash off the back of a disappointing outing against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

While the result was no doubt not what the reigning Premier League champions were aiming for coming into the fixture, the performance as a whole gave Pep Guardiola in particular plenty of reasons to be positive for the future.

However, there remains a knowledge within the club that while performances have improved, their results must follow that trend immediately as they look to cement their place in the UEFA Champions League spots for the 2025/26 campaign.

The next of those outings comes against Tottenham in the English top-flight, preceding an FA Cup fifth round tie against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday evening – a competition that the club will now be viewed within as the ultimate favourites to claim silverware.

Ahead of the meeting with Tottenham in North London on Wednesday night, here is every single word from the second-half of Pep Guardiola’s pre-match press conference taken from the City Football Academy on Tuesday afternoon!

On John Stones and whether he needs surgery

“No, no surgery. No. He can be recovered during eight to 10 weeks without surgery.”

On Abdukodir Khusanov’s communication

“We push him to take lessons every day as much as possible of course, because it’s really important to communicate. I don’t think even when he will speak English properly we will communicate much, I don’t know, I don’t think so, for the way he behaves but as much as he understands the game and what he has to do, it’s fine.”

On whether he will help Kevin De Bruyne to make a decision on next season when that time comes

“Nothing is going to change about that. Of course we know eachother quite well and I think we are quite honest with that. I think in that situation he has to decide, that is the most important thing.

“He’s completely honest with himself and he’s going to decide what does he feel, what he can do in the next period of his life. In summer he’s 34-years-old, at the end of the season, and he has to decide like what happened with David Silva, for example, and many other players.”

On Claudio Echeverri

“Yeah, he’s here soon. He’s going to start training and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the World Cup. And as soon as possible he arrives and he can adapt quick for the future.”

On Ruben Dias

“Yeah (he’s fit).”

On fitness and injuries

“We need everyone for the end of the season. Absolutely everyone. I decide for this line-up, maybe tomorrow will be another one, we need everyone. We are part of that and of course in the next one, two, three years the players will be a little bit different. Everybody knows it.”

On the ageing players fighting for their futures and proving their worth at this level

“Of course, all of them can play. When the team plays better, they can play. Six months or seven months ago, it was the Champion team. We adjusted one player with Savinho and the rest are the same.

“And when the team behaves better, especially when everyone is there, they are players to play for City, there are no doubts about that.”

On whether it was a tactical decision not to play Ruben Dias vs Liverpool

“Yeah. He came from an injury and we wanted a little bit more pace from (Abdukodir) Khusanov, that was the reason why. And a left-footer on the left side. Nothing special. Ruben is massively important for us, as a player and a character and many, many things.

“He has been a key point in this period, an important player, but sometimes I decide for other players.”

On Oscar Bobb

“Yesterday we spoke with the doctors and he feels really, really good and much, much better than when he came back. He had a problem in the ‘meta’, some disturbance, could not run properly.

“That’s why at the end he came back, stopped, came back, stopped, and at the end with the doctors wisely decided, ‘OK stop until you feel this little discomfort that you have in your ankle can be better and can train’.

“And I think he’s in the last part (of recovery), and I think he’ll be back soon. But I said that one month ago and still he’s not here, so hopefully this time it can happen.”

On Oscar Bobb’s boost to the team

“Oscar has not been part of that in previous seasons but everyone, when we saw him in pre-season, was so excited! Him the first, and everyone! He’s a guy that can create in small spaces and helps us in terms of intensity to make the people from up front the first action so aggressive.

“He’s like an addiction for the people who play behind, and Oscar is the best! So intelligent, smart, rhythm that he plays, and he can play as a right-winger, in the pockets, even striker, in small spaces and as a runner and in finishing, he’s difficult to find!

“And unfortunately we could not, after pre-season and before the game against Chelsea was injured in a training session and could not (be here) until now. We could not expect three or four months, sometimes unfortunately it happens, for him and for us.”

On whether Manchester City need to adapt and become more like the other direct teams in the Premier League to avoid being left behind

“It depends on the skills or specific qualities of the players that we have, and depending on what we have is how we play. What I saw recently is more teams play more man-to-man, more aggressive in build-up. A few of them play like this.

“In terms of playing more direct or not more direct, English football has been more direct; it has been always not playing much in the middle and playing long balls. But in the last years, a lot of teams play from behind, Tottenham is an example, and many other teams.

“Normally when you make a positional game against man-to-man, it’s completely different, but we handled really well against man-to-man teams, we are not concerned about that. Always we will have the regret this season, what would happen without muscular injuries during the season, one, two, three weeks out, or four weeks out.

“And what would happen if we had our central defenders not eight or 10 weeks out, or we had Rodri not out for six months, or Oscar (Bobb) not being five or six months out – what would happen?! Nobody knows.

“I can imagine we would be more competitive than we have been but when we have the squad, we can play in the way we want to do. Until I am not the manager, we are going to adjust something depending on the quality of the players or the problems that opponents bring, I think we are going to try to play the way we defined as a team since many years that we’ve had success.

“The only difference is more teams than the past make man-marking from our goal-kicks, more aggressive. Before they were more cautious. Now the teams are so brave, that is a little bit different, I would say the only one.

“The rest if you have your team you can compete and you can play in the way we have played in the past.”

On whether the new players have already brought a sense of new energy and give them an ability to drop teams better than a few weeks ago

“We need all the players and of course when you talk about Phil (Foden), or Omar (Marmoush), or Nico (Gonzalez), or (James) Macca, just for a question of age they have another rhythm without the ball that you cannot have with other players, the old players that we know we have.

“But the other players give you something that the young players cannot give you. For Liverpool I decided for that, for this energy up front to create more, or drop them more, and have the feeling that we can score more goals.

“And the way we’ll played against, or how Liverpool must defend, I’m really pleased! We did very good things and they punished us; (Trent) Alexander-Arnold broke the lines with his enormous quality.

“But I would say it was a more transitional team and this season were completely different, and we were there all the time! I think what we did against Liverpool, we have done for almost a decade – eight years or nine years we have been here – to drop the team there, and after to try to don’t leave much, and do it.

“The only thing we missed is the final third a little creativity or better crosses, or better I don’t know, it’s not easy when they defend with the power that they have, and the physical presence that they have, and of course the speed that they have.

“So I’m not going to say that we deserve more than what happened, and that we were better than Liverpool because we are 20 points behind – we have no defence, they are better. Accept it. The best way to understand the reality is the future, and the reality in the Premier League, where we are right now in fourth, we have not been good to compete with them.

“And of course, always I am a big supporter of that; when you sign players, it’s better to find players young and make his career. When Kevin De Bruyne came here to do what he has done, and I think I prefer that and the club prefers as well than buying a player coming for their last years.

“But we will see how they behave, the players that had been many times here, the young ones, and game by game until the end of the season try to finish what we want to do and prepare for the next seasons.”

On whether he would consider having a bigger Manchester City squad next season to then keep the experience

“Yeah. Especially the guys who remain here or the guys who come, how is their history in terms of injuries. You have to think about it; which players can play every three days during a month.

“That is the most important thing, because otherwise it can happen the same as what has happened this season. And you have to try to avoid it. Of course we have to sign, I think the club has to sign players but at the same time we have to keep the players that we have as much as possible, because with the World Cup involved and immediately after the season, and the season will be tough or even tougher.

“Of course we need a little bit of a bigger squad, yeah.”

On why Tottenham have caused him so many problems over the seasons

“Good question! I don’t know… We won in the years that we should win, to win the Premier League. Always at the beginning I have the feeling that always we played really good against them, but we were not able to get results. This is the truth.

“I think Liverpool away especially and Tottenham have been the rivals that have been the most difficult to get results. In general in the cup competitions always it’s tricky, but in the Premier League – a long competition – it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, because the important thing is the last target and the last target is to achieve the Premier League and we have done it many times.

“But it’s true; always I’ve said it’s because the quality is there. Always I’m surprised why for many years we could not be there, close to them. I think in the first year when I arrived and Mauricio Pochettino was there and arriving in the Carabao Cup final against us, and they could not do it but it’s an analysis I cannot do because I’m not there.

“And it’s a question for Tottenham. But the team, always since I arrived, the first season with Mauricio was an incredible, incredible team; Kyle (Walker) was there, and Harry Kane, and Dele Alli in his prime, and many, many good players, (Heung-min) Son, and all these types of players, it was a pleasure to watch.

“Always it was a close contender, but never (won the Premier League) and I don’t know the reason why because the managers have been there, since Mauricio until Ange (Postecoglou) now, the group of managers that have been there have been beyond exceptional!

“They’ve had success everywhere! And the reason why they’ve not done it, I don’t know! If I was there I could answer you, but now I don’t know.”