OPINIONI saw Pep Guardiola copy Kyle Walker tactic in Man City game – it could be transfer masterstroke

OPINIONI saw Pep Guardiola copy Kyle Walker tactic in Man City game – it could be transfer masterstroke

A round up of some of the moments missed from Manchester City’s friendly defeat to AC Milan at the Yankee Stadium in New York

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BySimon BajkowskiChief Manchester City writer
08:00, 28 JUL 2024
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Pep Guardiola (L) Head coach Manchester City and Paulo Fonseca Head coach of AC Milan
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Manchester City suffered their second consecutive defeat on their United States tour as AC Milan ran out 3-2 winners at Yankee Stadium.

Playing in their second pre-season friendly as well as City, the Serie A side stunned the Premier League champions with two comebacks that proved too much for the Blues to respond to. Erling Haaland gave Pep Guardiola’s side the lead, but they trailed 2-1 at half-time and let the gamp slip again in the second half to taste another loss.

There were a number of talking points during the game, both on and off the pitch. Here is a look at a few of those as Haaland found himself back in the goals but not without bother.

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Haaland captain no more
Erling Haaland was captain for the first friendly of the tour and kept the armband until he went off, staying as captain even when Ederson came on in the second half before handing it to the Brazilian after being substituted. The No.9 spoke of his pride at the armband, but was not given the honour of repeating it against AC Milan.

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Instead, Ederson took the armband as he played from the start. A man who Pep Guardiola has said he dearly wants to keep at the Etihad amid serious interest from the Saudi Pro League was given an extra responsibility for this friendly.

It threw up memories of the tour last summer, when Kyle Walker was given the captaincy as Bayern Munich were trying to sign him. It helped to keep Walker at City then, so can it work as well with Ederson?

Gvardiol shinpads
Nothing says a moment missed like Josko Gvardiol’s shinpads, but they really were something else. Where his Croatia teammate Mateo Kovacic had pictures of his family on there and Ederson had a cartoon of himself, Gvardiol had a picture of The Godfather complete with a famous quote from the sequel: “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.”

Gvardiol may be one of the youngest members of the dressing room but it seems like he is definitely a teammate that people don’t want to be getting on the wrong side of!

Guardiola applause for Phillips
The exasperating case of Kalvin Phillips is into a third season at City. The first two went inexplicably poorly and while he has travelled out to the US for pre-season it doesn’t look as if Phillips has any hope of being at the Etihad this year.

Picked for the first friendly of the summer, the former England international had to settle for a place on the bench when this game kicked off. He came on for the second 45 minutes but quickly put City into a spot of bother as he mishit an ambitious crossfield ball in his own half and punted it straight out of play.

Guardiola put his hands together to applaud the intent, but Phillips still looks like a fish out of water.

Minutes for trialist
Amar Fatah was a name unknown to nearly every Manchester City fan before this week, but the Troyes winger who has spent time at Lommel ended Saturday evening as a part of City’s team at Yankee Stadium. He had been doing rehab in Manchester after lengthy injuries and has stepped up to the touring squad and now played a few minutes.

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