the 55-year-old said<\/a>.<\/p>\nHe also gave a speech in support of Palestinian children at a charity event in Barcelona. Yet in a statement posted on X and its website the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region said: \u201cWe have repeatedly asked for prominent individuals to be mindful about the words they use given how Jewish people have had to endure attacks across the globe. Pep Guardiola is a football manager. Whilst his humanitarian reflections may be well-intentioned, he should focus on football.<\/p>\n
\u201cManchester City is being let down by him repeatedly straying into commentary on international affairs. This is the second time in a week he has decided to offer his controversial views on the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s especially galling given his total failure to use his significant platform to display any solidarity with the Jewish community subjected to a terrorist attack a few miles from the Etihad Stadium or the Barcelona community reeling from anti-Semitic violence close to where he once engaged in remarks we believe to be provocative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guardiola takes City to Liverpool for Sunday\u2019s late kickoff with Erling Haaland having scored just once from open play in 10 appearances. Haaland was dropped for Wednesday\u2019s 3-1 Carabao Cup semi-final win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium, again failing to score as a late substitute. Omar Marmoush, who replaced him, scored twice yet Guardiola has backed Haaland, saying: \u201cErling is the best striker in the world\u201d. He added: \u201cI don\u2019t know if he plays at Liverpool but I always say Erling is the best.\u201d Jamie Jackson<\/p>\n
2. Howe: \u2018My future isn\u2019t relevant\u2019<\/p>\n
Eddie Howe has moved to quell speculation he could walk away at the end of the season following a dispiriting run of results. The Carabao Cup holders\u2019 defence of their first major domestic trophy in 70 years ended on Wednesday night when Manchester City completed a 5-1 aggregate semi-final victory over Newcastle, and they head into Saturday\u2019s Premier League fixture with Brentford sitting in 11th place in the table.<\/p>\n
However, after social media went into overdrive in the wake of a disappointing first-half performance at the Etihad Stadium to suggest the 48-year-old has taken the club as far as he can, with further speculation that he could replace England manager Thomas Tuchel this summer despite Newcastle chief executive David Hopkinson\u2019s claim this week that the two parties remain happy with each other, Howe was in defiant mood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a surprise to me,\u201d Howe said: \u201cI give my best to the football club every single day, to all the players and the staff. I try to be the best version of myself to inspire the team to win games. That\u2019s my only thought. I don\u2019t tend to look too far ahead, but I try to prepare and plan for the club to move forward in every sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy individual future isn\u2019t really relevant. Who knows? I don\u2019t know my length of time here, I\u2019ve got no idea. I just try to do my best every day until told differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eddie Howe and his Newcastle players applaud the away fans after the Carabao Cup defeat at Manchester City. Photograph: Marc Atkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The loss of \u00a3130m striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool during the summer has had a lasting impact, and Howe acknowledges that the \u00a3219m they spent on Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey is yet to pay full dividends.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s too early to make strong conclusions from that transfer window. At this moment in time, I\u2019d probably say let\u2019s see where we are at the end of the season, and then even six months into next season, too. I think you\u2019ll have a clearer idea then because you can look back at Lewis Hall\u2019s transfer and go: \u2018Well that didn\u2019t work initially\u2019, but for me that was always a long-term signing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s also true of various other players we\u2019ve signed through the years \u2013 Anthony Gordon also took time to become the player that he is now. Patience is needed, although it\u2019s a rare commodity these days with transfers. I understand that with the outlay, people will go, \u2018You shouldn\u2019t need patience and understanding\u2019. But I\u2019d say with most transfers these days, I think there has to be an element of that.\u201d PA Media<\/p>\n
3. Iraola says performances not transfers are key<\/p>\n
Andoni Iraola rejected suggestions the club\u2019s January transfer window will have any bearing on his future at Bournemouth with his contract due to expire in the summer. The Cherries lost Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City last month but brought in Alex Toth, Rayan and Ademide Solanke as well as goalkeepers Fraser Forster and Christos Mandas.<\/p>\n
With the club continuing to build a young core, Iraola was asked before Saturday\u2019s match against Aston Villa if they would make it more difficult for him to potentially walk away in the summer. \u201cYou are making it sound like I am like almost testing the club, sign very good players so I can stay,\u201d Iraola said in response.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd from my side, it\u2019s not like this. I think I try to help the club to sign the better players we can. And we\u2019ve tried to do this in the winter market. Some players we haven\u2019t been able to sign, others yes, like in every market. And now the market is not the important thing for me. The important thing is the performances, how we build a team, how we play games, how we can continue getting points. And this is the substantial part.\u201d PA Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. \u2018Why should I not express what I feel?\u2019 A defiant Pep Guardiola has defended his right to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-462523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}