'We lacked' - Ilkay Gundogan sends blunt message to Man City teammates
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan thinks he knows what the team have to do to beat Nottingham Forest
Ilkay Gundogan says every Manchester City player needs to stand up and be counted as he prepares to return to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs. Gundogan scored the fastest FA Cup Final goal in history in 2023 and added another to help defeat Manchester United and tee up the Treble a week later in Istanbul.
It looked to have been Gundogan's last game on English soil for the Blues as he left that summer on a free transfer for Barcelona, but returned just 12 months later amid financial difficulties for the Spanish club. However, it is a different City that heads back to Wembley even if Gundogan is roughly the same.
The Blues have been bruised and beaten this year by more teams than they are used to as a mid-season collapse saw an end to their Premier League and Champions League hopes. They are fighting for a top-five finish to ensure they remain in the top European competition next season, and can still end the season with silverware if they beat Forest on Sunday and then the winner of Palace and Villa in the other FA Cup semi-final.
City are on a run of seven games unbeaten since their last defeat - away to Forest in March - and feel positive enough about the last few weeks that they can identify what they were lacking earlier in the season. For Gundogan, it is about bravery on the ball and the big players stepping up to make the difference.
“We have to be confident. When we play with confidence we play automatically better," he said.
"Our game requires confidence because we want to play brave, possession-based football. We need that because we have been playing many games where we lacked a little bit of confidence and haven’t dealt well with it.
"We have to do that, stay true to ourselves and know what we are playing for. Then, I am confident that we can reach the final.
"It is a competition with a lot of tradition in this country and it is an occasion for the biggest players in the biggest games as well.
"It is a trophy that we would love to win again this year, but we face Nottingham Forest who are a very uncomfortable team to face.
"They were able to beat us a few weeks ago and they are playing a great campaign in the Premier League. It is going to be a really tough game, but we are travelling to Wembley to try to win the game and win the final.”
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