He said: “Zabaleta, 31, started just 13 Premier League games as he fell behind Bacary Sagna in the pecking order under manager Manuel Pellegrini and was linked with Italian sides Roma, Inter Milan and Juventus over the summer”.
Advertisement
However, the 31-year-old has instead stayed to fight for his place and is relishing a crack at the title under Guardiola’s tutelage this season.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is second on the list of trophy-winners with 20 to his name and that is mightily impressive when you consider the Catalan began his managerial career in the summer of 2008 at Barcelona, before later moving to FC Bayern Munich and Germany in 2013.
“It’s totally different, obviously”.
“There was a new manager coming in and everyone has to have that conversation to see what your situation is for the future”. Either way, customers are likely to be flocking in early for this lunchtime kick-off, with the programme starting at 11.30am, so the lunchtime staff both behind the bar and in the kitchen will need to be ready for the extra rush this match will bring.
“We know that not one or two or three more than that have the same ambitions”. But this is normal when you have lots of new things – new coach and new players.
We expect Pep Guardiola to adopt 4-3-3 formation for his Manchester City side with Raheem Sterling and David Silva in the wings and Sergio Aguero upfront.
“Joe is a player I’m so happy about (with) his qualities, his behaviour, and what he means to this club”.
Last year, other than the champions Leicester and, at times, Tottenham, the standard of play was pretty poor.
Aguero will provide the focal point of Guardiola’s new-look attack. Gundogan’s compatriot, Leroy Sane will also miss the first game due to a hamstring injury. The Red Devils will bank on Mourinho’s experience winning the league, three times, with Chelsea.
An abandoned friendly against rivals Manchester United in China and the staggered return of his Euro 2016 stars have combined to complicate Guardiola’s first pre-season at the City Football Academy.
French centre-back Eliaquim Mangala, meanwhile, is out of favour, having been omitted from City’s squad for their Champions League play-off tie against Steaua Bucharest.
A record total of £1.5billion is expected to be wagered across the Premier League season with experts saying it is one of the most open title races ever.
The Foxes are at evens to win this opening fixture of the new season, with Hull’s best odds out at 16/5.
He has signed youngsters Paddy McNair and Donald Love from United, as well as Senegalese defender Papy Djilobodji from Chelsea.
Advertisement
At the end of the 2014/15 regular season, Leicester were nearly relegated down to League 1 in the United Kingdom, but somehow the Foxes beat all of the odds and won the coveted Premier League title. “Now, he is a player of us”.
