Despite acknowledging that it will be harder to defend against Everton when the Toffees have space in which to operate, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has insisted his team will look to attack at Goodison Park
Everton have extremely gifted players in counter-attacking situations due to their pace and technical ability — the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu, Aaron Lennon and Ross Barkley for instance — but Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini insists his side will not hold back at Goodison Park.
The Chilean insisted that he will look to attack Roberto Mart nez’s side, while expressing the opinion that he preferred to play the first leg of a two-legged semi-final such as this away from home.
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Manchester City will not change their style against Everton
Pellegrini has largely stuck to his attacking philosophy with City, and although that has cost them against the likes of FC Barcelona in the Champions League, Everton are a far more modest opposition.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Pellegrini is quoted by the club’s official website as saying: “Weai??i??re not going to change our style of playing because of Everton. We will try to play as an offensive team, to create chances and to score the most amount of goals we can. We donai??i??t think it will be easy because Everton have conceded goals recently Every game is different.
“Everton play offensive football and itai??i??s always more difficult to defend because there is more space. If you play near your box and defend itai??i??s easier.”
Pellegrini insists City will take it one game at a time, as chance to win first silverware beckons
City are 180 minutes away from getting their first opportunity to win silverware for the season, but Manuel Pellegrini insists his side will focus on the FA Cup third round after the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, and will take each game as it comes.
“We must beat Everton, then we can think about the first title and then we think about the best way to start the FA Cup – we must focus game by game regardless of the competition,” insisted Pellegrini.
“Maybe itai??i??s impossible to win all of the competitions but your attitude and desire and having a winning mentality indicates you must believe you can.”