Manchester City have missed nine penalties since the start of last season; Pep Guardiola says goalkeeper Ederson could become team's penalty taker following Ilkay Gundogan's latest failure at Liverpool on Sunday; Guardiola: "He is an option because I am pretty sure he's a good taker"
Tuesday 9 February 2021 14:59, UK
Pep Guardiola says goalkeeper Ederson is a genuine option to become Manchester City's penalty taker in a bid to end their disappointing record from the spot.
Ilkay Gundogan blazed a penalty over the bar when the scores were level during City's 4-1 win at Liverpool on Sunday, becoming the third player to fail from 12 yards for the side this season.
City also missed six of their 16 penalties last season, prompting Guardiola to joke at the time that Ederson - who has never taken a penalty in his professional career - could be handed the responsibility.
After the win at Anfield last week, Guardiola said the prospect of the keeper becoming the penalty taker was now only a "half joke", and it appears it could become reality.
"He has to save them also, then after we see what happens," said Guardiola. "It depends on the players. Sergio [Aguero]'s not fit, Kevin [De Bruyne]'s an incredibly good taker but is unfortunately not fit yet.
"We will see tomorrow [away to Swansea] - it depends on the line up. But he is an option because I am pretty sure he's a good taker. A penalty taker has to be the personality with huge confidence in himself."
Whether Ederson even starts at the Liberty Stadium in Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round clash is open to debate given his No 2 Zach Steffen has played in all of City's domestic cup games this season, but Guardiola is not expecting an easy game.
He still recalls how City were nearly beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2018/19 FA Cup by Swansea, who held a 2-0 lead before a late rally from Guardiola's side saw them win 3-2.
Guardiola is also impressed by the work of his counterpart Steve Cooper, who has led the Welsh club to third in the Championship, saying: "Swansea have a tradition of good managers.
"Michael Laudrup was there, Roberto Martinez, Mr [Graham] Potter, Brighton manager - now I realise how good he is. When we faced him we suffered a lot, we were 2-0 down, our third goal was offside. So it was a difficult, difficult game.
"I don't expect a different game that we played two seasons ago, when we suffered incredibly to go through. I know Swansea's consistency, they are so solid, physical, quality to play up front with [Andre] Ayew. A real test."
Guardiola also shrugged off praise of his handing of Phil Foden following the 20-year-old's outstanding performance in the victory at Liverpool, saying it was only coming his way because they won the game.
Foden has long been regarded as one of the brightest talents of his generation but has only established himself as a regular in Guardiola's XI this season, despite making his City debut in November 2017.
It was suggested during the midfielder's time on the sidelines that he would be better off moving on loan to another club in search of regular football, but his progress this season has silenced those calls.
Asked if he ever tired of the questioning regarding his treatment of Foden, Guardiola said: "No, it's part of our jobs. Sometimes when he didn't play, he could have played, then when he played, maybe he could rest.
"The decisions we take always are good because we won, not because they are good themselves. Even we never know what is going to happen.
"So all the good comments after the victory against Liverpool - I'm going to tell you a secret - is because we won. Do the same and we lose, it would have been a disaster. It happened many times.
"All the successful managers are good and the manager who doesn't win is a loser."
