Manchester City boss has heaped praise on Raheem Sterling following their comfortable 2-0 win over Arsenal.
The Spaniard was full of positive acclamations for Sterling after the England international looked sharp following a busy summer representing his country in Russia.
The forward grabbed the opening goal in the victory that saw Manchester City rarely troubled by Arsenal in Unai Emery’s first game in charge of the Gunners.
It was a difficult summer for Sterling who received a lot of criticism for his poor finishing while playing for England in the World Cup but the player scored his 50th Premier League with a lovely driven effort against Arsenal, much to the delight of his manager.
“I want to thank his Mum and Dad for giving him such a special body shape,” Guardiola joked after the final whistle. “He is so small and tiny, so these guys in one week are ready. He has been good in training. We needed that guy in that position, and he did it so well apart from in the last 25 minutes when he started to get tired.”
Raheem Sterling has now scored 50 Premier League goals:
? 18 for Liverpool
? 32 for Manchester City11th youngest player to reach the milestone. pic.twitter.com/oW2yFhWpCq
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 12, 2018
Guardiola added that Sterling should not be judged too harshly for his performances with England this summer.
“You cannot judge the players in the World Cup on if they score a goal or not. Raheem has this special relationship with English football, but he is so loved in the locker room.
“He did some very good things at the World Cup, moving space and creating for others. He would have liked to have scored a goal and tried, but I am sure in the European qualifiers he will score goals for his country.”
There are still questions over Sterling’s long-term future after the player and club failed to reach an agreement in June due to a disagreement over wages, but Guardiola admitted he would like the player to stay despite insisting the matter was out of his hands.
“No,” he replied, when asked if he could provide an update on Sterling’s future at the Etihad. “For the record I am not a manager. I am a trainer.
“I try to make a good team spirit in the locker room and win games. But we are delighted with him and would like Raheem to stay. We’ll do our effort to recover him.
“We arrived after a difficult season and I told him I want to help him and want him to stay. But, in the end, the agents may not have agreements and that may not happen. But he knows we like him and want him a lot.”
When asked about his goal celebration following City’s 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Sterling told Sky Sports: “It’s the first game of the season, you want to start well and I’m happy to contribute.
“There’s been a lot of talking so I got a little celebration in there.
“It’s just one of those things. I play in an attacking position, it’s what I get judged on (scoring goals) and that’s all.”
Manchester City take on Huddersfield Town next weekend as they look to start the season with back-to-back wins