After Manchester City defeated Coventry City 1-0 at home in the third round of the FA Cup, manager Pep Guardiola held a press conference.

Hello Pep, what did you think of the match? Were you grateful for Jérémy Doku's contribution late in the game?

(Laughs) Honestly, I'm very happy with this victory for several reasons. The main reason is that in nine out of ten games like this, you usually concede late because you keep the opponent alive. We let them stay in the game, and I thought the first half ended at 1-0, but we should have scored one or two more. If it had been 2-0, the game would have been completely different. However, the way we held firm and got through the difficulty – defending against their long balls and set pieces right until the final second – I think that was very good. Not every victory is pretty and easy. Sometimes we need to win in an "ugly" way like this.

Hello Pep, what happened to Nico O'Reilly during the warm-up, and why did you initially decide not to start Enzo?

Read more: 【Unexpected debut! Official: O'Reilly injured, Enzo starts instead】

Nico had some discomfort in his back. It didn't look too serious, but he wasn't able to continue playing at that moment. As for Enzo being on the bench, it's because he had only rejoined the squad two days ago. I know the last two to three weeks have been very disappointing for Enzo, so the initial idea was to give him some minutes off the bench. But in the end, he started anyway. I thought he played quite well, and I'm very pleased with his performance.

Did you see the qualities and reasons you signed Enzo? Because he doesn't need time to adapt to your system or learn your tactical methods – he fits in immediately, as if he's been playing here for years, right?

Yes. When you work with players you've worked with before and already have great chemistry with, everything becomes much easier because they know what you want. We know each other well. I know how good he is, and I know he will be very helpful to the team and help us win matches.

What do you think of Iliman Ndiaye's debut performance?

Yes, I think we saw Enzo and Iliman's first games for the team, and we also had Aymeric Laporte, Álvaro Fernández, and Ryan Akanji making their home debuts in front of our fans. That's why I said that for several reasons, I'm very happy with today's victory. I think all of them performed excellently. But you know, they've only trained with us twice. They still need to understand our way of playing. Most of the time their running patterns and positioning aren't quite right yet. But again, they need to learn, and they will definitely master these things.

What does Iliman need to do? For instance, when you told him to "push forward" in the first half?

Yes, exactly right. When Iliman drops too deep, we don't need him to do that. We want him to stay in advanced positions so he can push forward further. The space for dropping deep is suitable for when Guardiola pushes forward. Similarly, on the other flank, when Kuzayev has the ball, Semenya does drop back sometimes, but Semenya should move wide, and the space for dropping deep belongs to Enzo. Anyway, this is normal. As time goes on, they'll gradually learn how we want them to play.

That's where the goal came from, right?

That's right. Enzo moved wide, then Semenya received the ball from behind him, and we scored.

Elliot Anderson won the Man of the Match award. I know he's been here longer than some of the new players, but he hasn't been here that long. Yet the way he plays, it feels like he's been here for years. He always makes the right decisions and is always in the right position. How impressed are you with his performance today and his overall performances since joining the team?

Very impressed. As you said, not just today's game – I think he played brilliantly against Crystal Palace and equally brilliantly against Bournemouth. Remember, he was only with us for a week at that point. Today we substituted him off due to cramp.

But the best thing about Elliot is that every day he eagerly asks how he can learn and improve. We sit down together for one-on-one video analysis, we make adjustments with him, and he himself has a strong desire to get better. I think this is what's important and most important for every player.

What exactly did you show him in the video analysis? What aspects does he need to focus on?

It depends on specific situations, including how to handle the ball and how to position himself when he doesn't have it. There are many different details involved.

Hello Pep, how do you assess the depth of your squad now? Clearly Nico suffered an injury during warm-up, yet you could start Enzo directly. Then when Enzo's energy dropped in the second half, Laporte could come on as a substitute. You also changed Cherki and brought on Foden. Obviously there are some players you didn't use today. You must be very happy with the overall options you have available now, right?

Yes, of course. But if you look back to the Community Shield final – we played the Community Shield and Arsenal played two additional matches during this period, with five substitutions in each match. They have two World Cup winners: Merino and Ödegaard, plus two other English players – Noa Maddison and another one I can't remember. I think it's the one who scored a hat-trick (Bukayo Saka)...

Ultimately, if you want to stay in this competition, you need options in your squad. Arsenal has many options. We have many options. And many other teams have their own options too – not just us. I'm very happy with the personnel options we currently have, and if we want to maintain our competitiveness, this is essential for us.

Hello Pep, where do you hope to see the team improve? For example, with 78-80% possession, how can you score more goals? What kind of changes would you like to see?

I think in the first half we deserved to score more. We only scored one, but we should have scored at least one or two more. For me, what's good is that these three victories are all different. For example, against Bournemouth, we fought until the final second. Against Crystal Palace, we performed excellently both with and without the ball, especially in taking the chances we created.

And today, I don't think it was a beautiful victory. It was rather ugly, actually. But late in the game, dealing with their long balls and set pieces, we resisted their pressure with excellent defending. I think this is something we need as well, because we didn't concede, which is very important.

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