Pep Guardiola says James Trafford needed comforting after his mistake against Tottenham last week and that he has yet to decide whether the Manchester City goalkeeper will keep his place against Brighton on Sunday.
Trafford was at fault for the second goal in the defeat by Tottenham and has been heavily criticised, leaving Guardiola to ponder a recall for Ederson, who was on the bench. The Brazilian has consistently been Guardiola’s No 1 but missed the opening-day win over Wolves before being named as a substitute against Tottenham. A final decision will be made on selection on Saturday, Guardiola said.
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“Always have arms around the shoulder, always,” the manager said. “We take care of them. What happened didn’t belong just to James, what happened in the second goal against Spurs. He’s a huge personality. He’s concerned – I wouldn’t like it if he wasn’t – but we’re here to help him. We’re here to support them.”
Asked who will be No 1 in the long term, Guardiola said: “All the clubs, before the international transfer window is closed, everything is possible. It’s as simple as that. After that, we’re going to play [Manchester] United and Champions League and Arsenal. After everything will be more clear and now we take a decision. It depends on the performance and it depends on many reasons.”
After the trip to Brighton, the majority of City’s players will disperse for international duty before returning for the game at home to United on 14 September. It will be the start of a busy period for City, whose Champions League fixtures include a game at Real Madrid and visits from Napoli and Galatasaray, bringing returns to the club for Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sané.
“I will have the honour to be the manager of more games played in Bernabéu,” Guardiola said. “So, yeah, nice to be in Spain again. Kevin and Leroy, I’m really pleased they came back here and of course we have to beat the two teams like Napoli, Galatasaray, but it’s nice to bring him back and I’m pretty sure that we have a great welcome to them because they deserve it.”
