Sir Alex Ferguson’s half-time “hairdryer” treatment was infamous, and it sounds like Pep Guardiola is just as capable of delivering a dressing down.
The Manchester City coach was “furious” with Leroy Sane at half-time of the recent FA Cup loss to Wigan Athletic. The first-half finished goalless, City had Fabian Delph sent-off and Guardiola was involved in a touchline argument with Paul Cook, the Wigan manager. So, Sane clearly picked the wrong time to put in an under-par performance.
According to James Ducker, writing in The Telegraph, Pep tore strips off Sane during the interval, accusing the winger of “failing to pull his weight” and not following tactical instructions during the first-half. The report claims that Sane’s teammates sat in “stunned silence” as Guardiola delivered the “furious” tirade, which could be heard outside the dressing room.
The Germany international was then substituted for Kyle Walker, who made the mistake which led to Will Grigg scoring and knocking City out of the FA Cup. Sane returned to the starting line-up for City’s 3-0 victory in the Carabao Cup Final against Arsenal on Sunday.
The 22-year-old has impressed this season, scoring 11 goals, but City reportedly feel he needs to stay focused to reach his potential. As Ducker’s report states, Guardiola has twice questioned Sane in public this season – saying he didn’t play well enough in pre-season to earn a starting spot at the beginning of the campaign, and that, defensively, he made “big mistakes” in an FA Cup win over Burnley back in January.
In Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s book, the Swedish striker said that Pep shied away from direct conflict with players when he was Barcelona manager. It’s possible that he may have just avoided conflict with Zlatan, because Guardiola evidently had no issue giving Sane a dressing down.
