Richard Keys Makes Pep Guardiola Sack Claim After Man City Draw v Everton

Richard Keys believes Pep Guardiola would have been sacked after the loss to Everton if he had not been the Manchester City manager.

Sean Dyche’s team held the Sky Blues to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad on Thursday [26 December], making it one win in nine Premier League matches for Pep Guardiola’s team.

Iliman Ndiaye equalised for the Blues to secure a point, and Keys believes the former Barcelona head coach would have been relieved of his duties had he been managing a team towards the bottom of the table.

Speaking on beIN SPORTS 1 [26 December, 17:11], the 67-year-old said: “It’s one win in 13 in all competitions for City now. Five points from 27 in the Premier League. If that’s a manager at the bottom, he gets the sack.”

Sean Dyche relieves Everton sack pressure after Manchester City draw

Guardiola has been arguably the finest manager anywhere in the world for more than a decade, and while calls for sacking him feel absurd, the Spaniard certainly needs to turn things around at the Sky Blues.

Dyche was under pressure at the Toffees not long ago after a poor start to the season, but the Englishman has turned things around in recent weeks.

The Blues were languishing close to the relation zone before a set of tricky fixtures in December, and many of the Goodison faithful were fearful.

However, Everton have gone up against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in their last three games and have taken a point from each.

Dyche must be commended for the remarkable set of results, and his conservative approach to football has certainly been instrumental.

The 53-year-old head coach has quelled the noise around his future in the Goodison dugout, but it remains to be seen whether The Friedkin Group will pull the plug if things go sideways in the coming months.

With Nottingham Forest up next on Sunday [29 December], the Blues can’t rest on their laurels and must see off Nuno Espirito Santo’s unexpectedly successful team.

In other Everton news, an ESPN image shows what might have helped Jordan Pickford during the Erling Haaland penalty save.