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Manchester City German midfielder Leroy
Sane (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City
star Leroy Sane he has a long way to go
before he can be considered as great a
player as Ryan Giggs.
Sane has been outstanding this season for
a City side chasing Premier League leaders
Liverpool, having recovered from the
disappointment of missing out on
Germany’s World Cup squad last year.
The 23-year-old winger’s total of 12 assists
in all competitions for City this season is
only one fewer than Lionel Messi has
managed for Barcelona, while he has also
scored 10 times for his club.
Sane, last season’s PFA Young Player of
the Year, has invited comparisons with
Manchester United legend Giggs because
of his pace and skill when attacking down
the left wing, a similarity that Guardiola has
acknowledged in the past.
However, the City manager suggested that
Sane will need to maintain his consistency
before he can match Giggs, who had a 23-
year first-team career with United before
retiring in 2014.
“I think he’s becoming much more
consistent but still he’s not Ryan Giggs,”
Guardiola said.
“I don’t remember if Ryan Giggs was like
Leroy when he was 21, 22 years old. I don’t
know. That would be the comparison, you
know?”
Giggs, now the Wales manager, won two
Champions League and 13 Premier League
titles as a United player.
He played in a further two Champions
League finals, losing to Guardiola’s
Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.
“I remember when Ryan Giggs played in the
Champions League finals against us, that
was after many seasons of games in the
Premier League. But in the early stages,
maybe it was quite similar,” he said.
“But I judge Leroy against the real Ryan
Giggs from the later stages. And of course
still, he’s not like him.”
– Fixture congestion –
Guardiola, meanwhile, has declared himself
unconcerned by the possibility that City’s
Premier League title chances could be
damaged by both fixture congestion and
Liverpool’s consistency.
City remain in pursuit of four trophies – the
Champions League, Premier League, FA
Cup and League Cup – with the possibility
that a fifth competition could disrupt his
plans to rest senior players.
The club’s Under-23 side are in the
quarter-finals of the Checkatrade Trophy, a
competition for professional teams in
League One and League Two, plus invited
academy teams run by Premier League and
Championship clubs.
City’s academy side will visit Sunderland
on January 22, the night before the senior
team play the second leg of their League
Cup semi-final against third tier Burton.
Having watched his side defeat Burton 9-0
in the first leg, Guardiola had hoped to rest
senior players and field some of his
academy products in that match, but the
proximity of the Checkatrade Trophy game
now makes that far more difficult to do.
Yet even so, Guardiola is happy with the
idea of playing lots of matches if it brings
plenty of trophies, and is not worried that
Premier League leaders Liverpool might
benefit from a lighter schedule.
“Of course, if they are fresh mentally and
in the legs over the latter stages of the
season, it is much better, but really I don’t
know if it’s an advantage,” he said.
“Maybe if they play every three days,
everybody is in a rhythm, everybody is
focused. Sometimes when we have one
week or 10 days off, that’s wrong for the
rhythm.
“If you win games and go through to the
quarter-finals and semi-finals of
competitions, that’s a huge excitement to
be focused and for everybody to be
involved in.
“So when I go out of a cup, it’s because
the other team are better. We don’t go out
to drop any competition.”