Reijnders stars as Man City send Premier League title race warning with win at Wolves

0:01Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. It was a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight we feast. An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees, may apply.

0:35you're listening to the sky sports premier league podcast welcome along the first saturday night football of the new premier league season came from molyneux where wolves took on manchester city here's how things sounded at full time

0:56After a season in which they finished empty-handed, the summer refresh seemed to have served Pep Guardiola's Manchester City well. An emphatic win to start the season with. To cause some concern for Wolves. Erling Haaland among the goals. A double to start with for him against one of his favourite opponents. but the star of the show a Premier League debutant Tajani Rinders had a hand in three of the goals one of which he himself scored and he wasn't the only player making his debut in this competition to register today as Ryan Shirky came on and got Manchester City's fourth. An encouraging start.

1:43It is too much to judge what lies ahead on the basis of one game. But Manchester City start comprehensively enough with a win. It's Wolves nil, Manchester City four.

2:02Comprehensive win for Manchester City at Molineux this evening. It's the biggest win so far of this opening Premier League weekend. And it got underway, of course, with who else but Erling Haaland. Tiani Reinders involved in that one and got on the score sheet himself to make it 2-0. Really good debut from the midfielder. And then it was 3-0 with Haaland on target once again. And another debutant, Ryan Shirky, made it 4 for Manchester City.

2:35Couldn't really have gone much better for City at Molineux this evening. And when you look at the match stats with 15 shots for them on target, that led to an XG of 2.47, which is the highest of any side so far this opening weekend of the Premier League. They had 30 touches in the opponent's box, 134 passes in the final third. And of course, it's Manchester City, 59 % of the possession.

3:01It was a really good scoreline for Manchester City, but the performance, Jamie, and the way that it developed throughout the course of the 90 minutes, how much did that impress you? Yeah, they did. They started the game ever so well, Kelly. They really got into their stride and thought this was going to be a comfortable afternoon. And then Wolves found a little bit of rhythm, but that almost helped Man City to a certain extent because they started to maybe take more risk and put people forward. And then that just opened up a few gaps. And sometimes it takes a bit of individual quality or someone to grab the game by the scruff of their neck.

3:30And that's what I felt today. That's what Tiani Rinders did today. It felt like he just got hold of that game. You used a great word, great analogy of his running power, his athleticism, his close control. As I said, I think I said it after he's got a lovely disposition. He stands so upright on the ball. The ball's his friend. He's very calm. He just always looks like he's going to make the right decision. And he had a lovely smile. I can see him now. He had a beautiful smile at the end of the game. And it just made me think, he is really, really enjoying it. Look at that smile. It's great to see.

4:00It's not always cool to be cool. Be happy, you know. And I love watching him play today. And I thought he was absolutely magnificent. So let's hear from him. Well, Tiani Rad is here, is waiting to talk to us. And he is smiling. The camera was just framing up on him. But we've got him now. Tiani, Jamie was just saying it there. You looked as though you really enjoyed that debut. You come away with goal. You come away with assists. It felt like a really comfortable performance. How are you finding life in the Premier League? Yeah, it's a really nice start, of course, to start with goal and assist.

4:30And, yeah, especially in the Premier League, it's a thing you always dreamt about. and starting like this can be better. I know we're going to talk a little bit more about your own performance, but obviously it's a really important win for the side as well to start this Premier League season with a 4-0 victory. Yes, that's for sure, because the first game of the season, you don't know what will happen, how the opponents will play, and we did quite good. Of course, they put some good pressure on us, but we stayed calm and a good 4-0 win. Tiani, obviously to impact a game the way that you did, you have to work on the training pitch.

5:10What's it been like in the opening months at Manchester City working under Guardiola? Yes, learning a lot, of course. You've got a new view on how to play football. For me, it's quickly adapt and trying to do my best every time. and the intensity on the training with the team we have, definitely you will get better. Tiani, congratulations. Magnificent performance from you. Let's just talk about some of the goals. I'm hoping you've got a screen in front of you there. We're going to just show you the first goal and your involvement because you go and receive the ball in a deep position. You drive with it, a lovely bit of Iniesta skill and then a lovely scoop pass.

5:50Talk us through it. Yeah, I saw some teammates running, but I didn't see the space to put it directly. And, yeah, I had to do the shuffle. And then I saw Rico going in the deep and, yeah, I had to chip it to him. And, yeah, well played of our team, of course. And then a lovely finish as well. You know, Erling to play with someone like that must be obviously so impressive. And then the second goal, which you're heavily influential in, you make a really good run off the back of the mistake and you punish it with a really good finish here. Yeah, that's opportunities for me as well to get in the box and help the team with the goal.

6:29Then if you take the balls on that part of the pitch, you see there is a lot of space for me to run in the deep. And yeah, it's a good view from Oscar as well to pass me the ball. And yeah, it was a one-touch finish. I'm assuming you can see the third goal as well, that you have an impact in with Haaland. Of course, obviously the goal came from your run into that space, the deep space, and then the lovely sort of awareness to know where Erling Haaland was. Is that something you felt in training, that connection with him already? Yes, of course. He's always sharp for this kind of moment. In the first half, I could do it also and I didn't.

7:14And then he said, no, I will always be there. And now in the second half, I had to do it. And yeah, he did very well. Tijano, we started off by talking about how much you look like you're enjoying life. We saw you right at the final whistle. The smile was huge. How good is it to get that debut out of the way and for it to have gone so well? Yes, I'm always going on the pitch with a smile because, yeah, of course, I love playing football. And I enjoy every minute on the pitch. and that's what I also want to show to the fans. And starting like this is unbelievable. Have you talked as a group about what your ambitions are for this season?

7:55Yes, and that's win trophies. Last season, City didn't win the Premier League. And that is our main goal, to win the Premier League, of course. And we all know what we want. and we are really sharp to reach that goal. Tiani, last question. When you obviously knew you were going to be coming to Manchester City, was there obviously excitement, but did you feel a touch of pressure because they've had so many magnificent midfield players? I go back to Yaya Toure, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne. Do you feel that expectation, the weight on your shoulders? It certainly didn't look like it today. Yeah, of course.

8:35You know what names, big names were in this club, but I think it was more a proud feeling that it gave me to join Manchester City, to join one of the biggest clubs in the world at the moment. And that's what I want to show, that I'm proud to play for this club, and especially with a lot of fun and a lot of love. And it's been a great start, so good in fact that you are the Premier League player of the match. I think the trophy is approaching you as we speak. Congratulations, look after it and hopefully many more to come. Thank you very much. Happy with it. Thank you very much to Tiani Reinders.

9:15Guys, I know you were both hugely impressed with that performance. What is the detail of the way that he plays that works so well? Well, firstly, you look at the two midfielders that played in that sort of deeper role today, Gonzalez and Reinders. Reinders, we anticipated, would be the player that has license to do what he did in this game. But he looks like he's had a Manchester City shirt on for a few years in the way that, you know, so smooth connecting with his players his teammates so early can see here like one of the assets he has he's a ball carrier as well and he can take the ball away from pressure feed other players into the game and then look here just his running power into those spaces finding his teammates causing problems I just think overall you look at sort of all-round midfielders early days at Manchester City like I keep saying but he seems to have that bit of everything as a midfielder and I'm really excited to see him progress through the season.

10:05JB, you touched on it in your question to Tiani Rinders himself about coming in off the back of all those great Manchester City midfielders. He's not replacing Kevin De Bruyne, but is there a sense that he's replacing some of the things that De Bruyne could bring to the side? Yeah, because you have to replace amazing assists, goals. Kevin De Bruyne, for me, was one of the greatest midfield players ever. He's an absolute genius. Now, it's unfair to compare because they're just totally different players. But he possesses something. All great players, when you watch them, they don't look at the ball.

10:39Their head is up. They know where the ball's going to go. They just look so comfortable. I usually acknowledge it. It's their friend. They just look like they were born to play football. And that's what he looks like so far. And it is still early days. But one of the other things now in football, which I feel is really fascinating, that it's not just about how good someone is as a footballer. When you're recruiting nowadays, you need to make sure they're a good person as well. Are you going to come in and do you want to be a footballer? Are you going to train well? Are you going to live right?

11:07Are you going to set the right examples in and around the training ground? And a lot of clubs are maybe getting rid of players because they feel that their attitudes aren't right. But when I look at him, the recruitment would have been not just because he's a good player. You do the back checks. Is he a good guy? Does he look after himself? And that's exactly what he looks like because he looks like the perfect role model, perfect professional. and these parts of the game now are so important because you're not just buying a good player. You don't want a player that's going to be one week a nine out of ten, then he's useless in training and he turns up the following week is four out of ten.

11:35He's going to give you consistency. You can just see it. And he's going to have bigger challenges. When he plays against Liverpool's midfield, when he plays against Declan Rice and types of players that are going to be all over him, he will get more of a challenge. He will learn more. But as debuts go, it wasn't far off perfect. I thought he was magnificent today. And even his interview, it was a really nice interview and very sort of refreshing to see. But, yeah, so far so good. But as we both said, it's still very early days, Kelly. One of the other players who stood out was Rico Lewis, and he was really involved, particularly in the first half, is he?

12:06Yeah, clever performance from him. We can, you know, we saw his touch map at half-time. We know that, you know, on the team sheet, he plays right back. Here we can see, like, he's not always playing in that right back area. He's got licence to roam into midfield. He adds numbers. It's all about disrupting the opposition's shape. And I thought Wolves looked really sort of organised. But we can see on the first goal, the way that Rico Lewis impacts the game is magnificent. Because if we just pause it here and just have a look where he is in this situation here, he's inverted. We know the inversion of a fullback is very fashionable in football.

12:36But probably why are we doing it? This is why we're doing it. Rico Lewis is one of the best at doing it. Look at the likes of Zinchenko over the years at Manchester City. He does it at Arsenal. California does it at Arsenal. But this is the way that Rico Lewis can impact the game. And I think what's so special about this bit of movement here, it's the recognition of space here. how dynamic he is in this space here, which drops off Wolves' back line and the midfield, the structure, just allows Rinders to just drive with the ball. Look how much space he's created here. He checks his run. He doesn't need him now.

13:06Bang, he needs him now. In the space, he attacks it. And then have you got the quality? Have you got the quality to provide? And Haaland, it's like he knows he's there. Absolutely fantastic. I think this is... I think, is it Moller-Wolf? This is number six. Watch what he does, because he knows he's got a major problem because, you say, because of the inversion there. So he's looking, thinking, right, he's causing me a problem, but there's my winger. So as that ball gets played into Ryan does here, you can just watch him. He's looking now, he's checking his shoulder. Now he has to match that run because he's thinking, look, he's going to come in here.

13:36If he stays out too far, that opens up that gap in that passage. Now watch what his body shape does. He completely loses, gets disorientated, doesn't know what to do. Now he's thinking, right, Oscar Bob, I've now got to make sure I come and mark him. He completely loses it. Now he comes around this way. right now that beautiful gap has opened up for him and can he find him no he can't slide it but he knows he can just do that scoop pass over the over the top and that's all because of the body position here and obviously the defensively they're all over the place harlan causes a major problem as well because he's in an offside position agadou doesn't know what to do really does he follow him obviously he doesn't want to go too deep and harlan gets himself back on side but the play as well from from from rico is fantastic it's it's a brilliant piece of of of right-back play when you talk about the modern-day players and a great cross across the face of goal and an easy one for Erling Haaland.

14:27But beautiful football all round, wasn't it? Yeah, it was fantastic. Yeah, fantastic from him. And he was such a huge contributing factor for Manchester City, particularly, as we say, in that first half. We know that the Reinders got his second goal, but we asked him about the relationships between the players and how they're developing in these training sessions and pre-season matches that they've been playing. And this is where you can see that come to fruition. Well, you spoke in your Jamie about Oscar Bob. And I think this piece here is the difference, you know, that Manchester City have here.

14:59So Harlan sets the pressure. We just go back here. They've recognised the ball's gone backwards. Manchester City begin the press. Harlan sets it here. But just watch Oscar Bob here. He just sniffs the pass. It's a bad pass in here to Andre. And he's off balance. And this is a really vulnerable position for Wolves to be in. and perhaps this is the difference we'll see for City this season. The running power, the directness that they've got in this moment. Look where Rinders is here and look where he ends up. So Oscar Bob here, really clever, that little Cruyff turn. He just spins and he's got Haaland to his right, Rinders to his left.

15:32The way you pass you mentioned, Jamie, excellent. And I just think the fact that he's taken this finish so early, I think makes this all happen. But just watch here. The keeping of possession for Oscar Bob, bang, they go forward. Look at Rinders exploiting the space. Desire. Absolutely desire. And then here we go, the finish. Sar can't get set in the goal. The fact that he's taking it early is everything about this move. And that's where Manchester City, might they be more ruthless this season? We'll see. Yeah, and the football intelligence as well from Oscar Bob, because sometimes you see it, the players, they keep dribbling, dribbling, dribbling.

16:03He gets it exactly right. He knows when the pass is on, the weight of it is perfect, and it's a brilliant finish as well. Two goals for Erling Haaland in this game. Have we got used to him? Is that why it's taken us so long to kind of start to break down his game in this one. Yeah, absolutely. But I want to talk about Ryan Ders again, because this is probably a really good thing for any young... That's quite a nice stop, actually. Any young midfield player, anyone wants to play in midfield, one thing you always have to do is you have to have... I'm using that, the wing mirrors. You have to always keep checking your shoulder.

16:33Here he is in midfield here. Now, Wolves have obviously got a bit of a problem because they're trying to press. You can see Strand Larsson's going to go and press the goalkeeper. And it's always the worst nightmare. I think there's that... Is that Gomez? That's Gomez there. So he knows he's got a player in behind him. Oscar Bob's up wide left and then Haaland. So they've pinned them back. But then with James Trafford, with his ability, it always gives you an asset. But just keep watching Ryan there. How many times he checks his shoulder? One, two. He's looking again. Three. Is that picture going to change?

17:00Four. Now he's going to move to his left. And as that ball comes to him, he brings this down. It's so good. Then he passes it out wide. And what we see a lot of the times with midfield players, as he goes to pass that one to Oscar Bob, sometimes they'll back up the play. Because of his, as Izzy is 100 % right, because of his running power, as he pops it off, he thinks, you know what, I'll go again. They're not going to be able to mark me because I've got that pace. I've got that athleticism. And then what he also does here, he's now already checked his shoulder. He knows that Erling Haaland, like, there's a little look, the tiniest little look here that is just going to find himself in a position now where he can reverse that one back to him.

17:36He said it in the interview, and that's a great finish. And when it comes back on his level, like, Jose Tarr doesn't cover himself in glory, but Ryan does that so well as well as he doesn't he he's fantastic and you explained it brilliantly there Jamie and I think with we spoke about James Trafford at the start of the game and I think this is twofold up here at the top of the pitch here so got Strand Larson setting the press for walls and you've got James Trafford who's already who's already scanning with the ball here just take that off your finger there on the touch screen that's not where anyway we're just looking here and I think what's really clever about this this pass from Trafford because Strand Larson doesn't press him properly, OK?

18:11He gives him an extra second to pick out this pass that he ends up playing to Rinders. He knows it's coming. But the other thing about this is that makes it all happen for Rinders is just have a little look at Bernardo Silva's positioning as he enters there. He comes into the line of sight for Yao Gomez and it creates that overload, that 2v1. James Trafford picks out the pass under no pressure from Strand Larson and I think that's why James Trafford is in goal for Manchester City. I think he knows that Wolves have gone high press. I've got the confidence to find that pass and like you said there Jamie just the ability to take this down on the move keep momentum moving forward and the release of the pass the forward run and then the picking out of Haaland it just completely makes it.

18:51It's a contender for assist of the season already it really is that good because of everything about it the first touch then he has the little dribble then he passed out wide then he goes and chases the next one and then it's the perfect setback for Erling Haaland it's it's a brilliant piece of midfield play it really is but they were very loose in midfield and he's going to have a lot bigger, a lot of tougher competitions than that but you're right, I mean the keeper should do a lot better there shouldn't he So that's 3-0 then for Manchester City, 4-0 is Ryan Cherkin, you said at half time you thought this was a game you'd like to see him make his debut for Manchester City I think with all due respect to Wolves it's the perfect scenario for Cherkin Guardiola I imagine will protect him at times but what we've seen here is glimpses of the quality that he can bring, we've seen it for Leon over a number of years in European competitions, Champions League, Europa League last season.

19:41And then here, this is where he's happy. You spoke about a wonderful clip you'd seen online, Jamie, about jerking inside this sort of area, receiving balls and his ability to take the ball down, trap the ball and finish. Obviously, a quick bit of feet in here, but the clean finish. And I think that is a snapshot of what you're going to see for Manchester City fans of this guy here. Yeah, they're going to love him because he's different. You know, we see a lot of players now that are maybe a bit robotic. They play in their positions. They don't like to do it. He will do things that are just so unusual.

20:10I think back to Tarap, when he was coming into the Premier League and just going past people, stepovers, left foot, right foot. He's such a good technical player. And I think he's going to enjoy the Premier League. And he might not always start games because they've got a lot of midfield players in there. And once Rodri comes in, it's going to get even more difficult. But I think as long as everyone buys into it, he's going to be a great asset. If he's coming off the bench, starting certain games, he can play wide. He can play in that. He's got the number 10 shirt. But he's going to be exciting for everyone at Manchester City, that's for sure.

20:41Hello, it's Pete Graves here from the Transfer Talk podcast. Join us each week throughout the summer for all the latest transfer news, insight and analysis from those in the know. I'll be joined as ever by my good friend Dharmesh Sheff and a host of top journalists to dissect all the latest transfer business in the Premier League. So if you don't already, give Transfer Talk a follow wherever you get your podcasts from. This season, Sky Sports is showing even more live Premier League football. We've got at least 215 live games, including more matches on Fridays and Mondays. For the first time, all the games on the final day of the season will be live in one place.

21:23And in another first, Sky Sports can now offer multiple live matches at 2pm on many Sundays through the season. To become a Sky Sports customer, head to sky.com. For now, though, let's get back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast.

21:44Manchester City off to a flyer this season with a 4-0 victory at Molineux. Two goals for Erling Haaland, a couple of debutantes, Rinders and Shirky on the score sheet for them as well. And a comprehensive victory. Let's hear what Pep Guardiola made of it. It's with David Craig. Pep, well done. You said to us before the game you would know and we would know a lot more about your team and its new signings. What has that performance told us? First half good, second no. So what's normally in this season, we didn't make games but the attitude and many, many things was good. But the second half we punished them in transition but they were better in certain moments I could have.

22:26But it's good to improve. It's good to improve winning 0-4. We talked a lot about the new signings you brought in. How impressed were you today, particularly by those signings that came in, particularly Tijani? Not all of them. The new ones, Tijani is an exceptional player, one of the best players in the Serie A. They have a rhythm, unbelievable. and many things have been good, I would say. For the first game, you never know. We didn't play much friendly games in pre-season. But in many things, it was good, especially in the first half, we dropped too much. But maybe it's normal at the beginning of the season.