There’s still a month of football to be played in Europe, but it’s fair to say the season is pretty much done for Manchester City.
By winning the Premier League and not competing for any other title, Pep Guardiola’s squad now only have to honour their match commitments before going on vacation, and maybe dream of a call up for the World Cup.
Danilo is one of these guys. He’s still dreaming of a spot in the Brazilian national team, and has given a pretty long interview to Sportv this week, talking about both his season at Manchester City and his World Cup chances.
But good things were not the only subject in the chat, and the player also had to speak about the week when City lost to Manchester United and were eliminated from the Champions League against Liverpool. Regarding that, he had some pretty interesting things to say.
“Football at a high level is often defined by details. You pay dearly when you can’t maintain a regularity,” Danilo told Sportv.
“It was a few moments of the season that we could not be normal throughout the game, it was in those three games.
“Unfortunately, it was at the most decisive moment. I do not think it’s psychological. Real Madrid and Barcelona were surprised too. We have a lot of young players. Many had not reached this stage of the Champions League. That counts a lot, that minimum of trickery during the knock-out stage.
“But I think it served as learning for our team. We have very great ambitions, no doubt, for the next seaso this learning will be very valid.”
After commenting on what he learned with Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, Danilo was also asked about Pep Guardiola, and had a lot to say about the Manchester City boss.
“Tatically, he takes care of the minimum details. He studies the other team incredibly, where you can make damage and make them suffer. In all training, we make a rondo, seven, eight against two.
“You can never pass with a rabona or a backheel, he cares a lot for you to make a front pass, to always be watching where you are passing.”
“He is extremely competitive, I see myself a lot in him. On game days, especially in major games, you pass next to him, wish him a good day, he doesn’t even respond. Because he has his head in the game, in what he can work with the team, talk to the players. It often seems like it’s on the moon.”
