Manchester, Jan 10 (NationPress) Pep Guardiola is eagerly anticipating the match against his ‘local’ Club Salford City in the FA Cup, emphasizing that City will demonstrate a great deal of respect to avoid a potential giant-killing. This will mark the first-ever encounter between City and the Ammies when they meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Guardiola has previously faced Salford’s manager, Karl Robinson, during his tenure at Oxford, where his team encountered two challenging matches against City in the Carabao Cup in 2018 and the following year.
The City manager, who has resided in Salford since taking the helm at the Etihad in 2016, acknowledges that Robinson’s squad plays with high intensity, and the Blues must be prepared for the challenge. “I’ve lived in Salford for the last eight years so I will be playing against my neighborhood, my hometown. I have a lot of respect for the manager [Karl Robinson]; we played years ago at Oxford and when he was assistant to Sam Allardyce at Leeds.
“The last six games, six clean sheets and six victories, so I have enormous admiration for them and their approach, the intensity, and we will take this match seriously, as we always do. Hopefully, we can perform well and secure three wins in a row – it’s been quite a while since that happened,” Pep stated during the press conference.
Notable former Manchester United players such as Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs are among the investors in Salford, with the latter frequently joining Robinson in the dugout as the Club’s sporting director.
Guardiola remarked that individuals involved in football often make wise decisions within the sport, and with Salford currently positioned for promotion in League Two, they could ascend the ranks. “Well, they won many titles; that generation of players acquired substantial funds to build formidable teams, which is commendable.
“I noticed Gary Neville; I may not know all the other players involved, but I am confident they are astute individuals, and when football people manage clubs, they tend to make intelligent choices. They have decided it’s an excellent path forward,” he added.
