‘Exceptional player’… Pep Guardiola says ‘extraordinary’ star will be a danger against Man City
Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Ivan Toney ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League match against Brentford.
The striker has recently made his return to action after completing an eight-month ban for breaching 232 of the FA’s betting rules.
With the Citizens set to travel to Brentford for their Monday night showdown, the City boss has been sharing his thoughts on Toney.
Guardiola wary of ‘extraordinary’ Toney
Brentford FC v Nottingham Forest – Premier League
Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of Monday’s clash, Guardiola had this to say about the Bees striker and the threat he carries on the pitch.
He said: “He’s an exceptional player. Not just long balls, set pieces, penalties he is a guarantee, with free-kicks. For many things. They can link with him. He’s an extraordinary player.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
“Happy he is back. Hopefully that period is forgotten for him and his life and his family. Exceptional players are always more than welcome in the Premier League.”
Last season saw the Englishman find the back of the net 20 times in 33 Premier League appearances, two of which came in Brentford’s 2-1 win over City at the Etihad Stadium back in November 2022.
Since making his return, the 27-year-old has scored a goal in each of Brentford’s two previous league games against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur.
This shows the hot form Toney has hit the ground running in and why Guardiola has been so complimentary about him as well as recognising the danger he could inflict on the Citizens.
It also shows why City’s defenders should be very wary of the striker and that they’ll need to be at their best to contain him and stop him from scoring.
However, with City having their own goalscoring threat in the shape of Erling Haaland back from injury, the Brentford players will have to be just as wary of him as the Citizens will be of Toney.
Kyle Walker has become as famous for his off-field exploits as his on-field excellence at Man City.
The right-back is as dependable as they come for Pep Guardiola, and all the while he’s doing the business, he isn’t going to be dropped and his private life will be overlooked.
That’s just as well because Walker clearly doesn’t learn his lesson.
No content with embarrassing himself and his club during lockdown, when he was caught hosting sex parties at his house despite everyone being instructed to stay at home, he then went and got mistress, Lauryn Goodman, pregnant not once, but twice.
The revelation that he’d fathered a second child with his mistress saw his marriage to Annie Kilner collapse, and it prompted a trite and cringeworthy apology from the player via The Sun.
If he thought by doing so that the problem was going to disappear, it looks like he’s completely misread the situation.
According to an interview with Mail+, Goodman admitted that despite their differences, she and Kilner actually got on ok.
“There was a time when I hated her (Kilner)… but surely any mother would question how you could accept a man back but not his child?” she was quoted as saying.
“I won’t get into the private conversations I have had with Annie, but she did tell me initially she felt we were both victims of his manipulative and controlling behaviour, and at times we have got along quite well, apologised to one another and had a mutual understanding.”
All the current news cycle does is keep this tawdry episode front and centre.
Kyle Walker should be writing the headlines for the brilliant work he does on the football pitch, not the childish decisions he makes off it.
What a mess.
‘Exceptional player’… Pep Guardiola says ‘extraordinary’ Brentford star will be a danger against Man City
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Ivan Toney ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League match against Brentford.
The striker has recently made his return to action after completing an eight-month ban for breaching 232 of the FA’s betting rules.
With the Citizens set to travel to Brentford for their Monday night showdown, the City boss has been sharing his thoughts on Toney.
Guardiola wary of ‘extraordinary’ Toney
Brentford FC v Nottingham Forest – Premier League
Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of Monday’s clash, Guardiola had this to say about the Bees striker and the threat he carries on the pitch.
He said: “He’s an exceptional player. Not just long balls, set pieces, penalties he is a guarantee, with free-kicks. For many things. They can link with him. He’s an extraordinary player.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
“Happy he is back. Hopefully that period is forgotten for him and his life and his family. Exceptional players are always more than welcome in the Premier League.”
Last season saw the Englishman find the back of the net 20 times in 33 Premier League appearances, two of which came in Brentford’s 2-1 win over City at the Etihad Stadium back in November 2022.
Since making his return, the 27-year-old has scored a goal in each of Brentford’s two previous league games against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur.
This shows the hot form Toney has hit the ground running in and why Guardiola has been so complimentary about him as well as recognising the danger he could inflict on the Citizens.
It also shows why City’s defenders should be very wary of the striker and that they’ll need to be at their best to contain him and stop him from scoring.
However, with City having their own goalscoring threat in the shape of Erling Haaland back from injury, the Brentford players will have to be just as wary of him as the Citizens will be of Toney.
Kyle Walker has become as famous for his off-field exploits as his on-field excellence at Man City.
The right-back is as dependable as they come for Pep Guardiola, and all the while he’s doing the business, he isn’t going to be dropped and his private life will be overlooked.
That’s just as well because Walker clearly doesn’t learn his lesson.
No content with embarrassing himself and his club during lockdown, when he was caught hosting sex parties at his house despite everyone being instructed to stay at home, he then went and got mistress, Lauryn Goodman, pregnant not once, but twice.
The revelation that he’d fathered a second child with his mistress saw his marriage to Annie Kilner collapse, and it prompted a trite and cringeworthy apology from the player via The Sun.
If he thought by doing so that the problem was going to disappear, it looks like he’s completely misread the situation.
According to an interview with Mail+, Goodman admitted that despite their differences, she and Kilner actually got on ok.
“There was a time when I hated her (Kilner)… but surely any mother would question how you could accept a man back but not his child?” she was quoted as saying.
“I won’t get into the private conversations I have had with Annie, but she did tell me initially she felt we were both victims of his manipulative and controlling behaviour, and at times we have got along quite well, apologised to one another and had a mutual understanding.”
All the current news cycle does is keep this tawdry episode front and centre.
Kyle Walker should be writing the headlines for the brilliant work he does on the football pitch, not the childish decisions he makes off it.
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