Wycombe Wanderers of England’s bulky striker, Adebayo Akinfenwa could not stop Manchester City from sending his side out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but he ended up getting accolades from The Citizens’ coach, Pep Guardiola.
Akinfenwa, who is highly regarded as the strongest footballer across the world, would be standing tall, following sweet words from Guardiola, who reckoned that the Nigerian-born attacker is a role model for young players.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Guardiola may not have known much about 39-year-old veteran striker Akinfenwa prior to the build-up to Tuesday’s encounter.
The Citizens’ gaffer added that Man City’s academy is fostering numerous first-team bound players and labeled Akinfenwa a legend, despite his inability to save the day for Wycombe.
After a near-miss from a header and a typically lively attacking showing from the forward though, he was certainly aware of his threat come full-time.
The Spanish tactician said he would use the experience to help his young guns prosper – with none of his back four born when Akinfenwa made his professional debut in 2001.
Guardiola had admitted in the build-up to Tuesday’s game his hands were tied by a number of injuries to City’s first-team players.
The Spaniard then watched on as the five debutants he named to face The Chairboys played their part in a 6-1 hammering at the Etihad.
The margin of victory was sealed by 19-year-old Cole Palmer’s sensational curling effort in his first goal for the club late on.
However, left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand also caught the eye when making City’s second goal before half-time on an encouraging night for the club’s young prospects.
Guardiola stated afterwards: “I just have to say thank you to the academy. They all do an incredible job. You have the feeling that we have not just one or two potential players but many of them.
“The academy gives them the right values to become good professional players and they have the talent. We have the feeling that we can count on them.
“We saw it today a little bit and we know how good they are. As manager of the first team, I can enjoy it, I can use them. They faced a legend of English football; it was an absolute pleasure to meet him.
“It’s not easy to do it but they did very well. We are going to review the game and show them how to solve the problems. But there was not one bad performance.”
