Pep Guardiola has defended the tactical approach of Manchester City in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal and insisted that his side occasionally has to “park the bus” when opponents are stronger or when, in his words, town of “s ** t”.
Pep Guardiola about why Man City ‘Park The Bus’
Guardiola pushed back on criticism that Man City played negative football against Arsenal, where she only had 32.8%. The city boss reminded critics that pragmatism is sometimes part of the game.
“Until I retire, I would like to play the way I want to play,” he said. “But sometimes we are not good, sometimes the opponent is better. If we defend deeper, it is because they are better – or we are s ** t. If you can perform the transition, then walk.”
Guardiola also pointed to history and reminded that Johan Cruyff once told him in Barcelona to touch Romario with longer passes when midfield was marked. He argued that today is no different with Erling Haaland that waits in advance.
Does Guardiola change his tactics in Man City?
Critics accused Guardiola of leaving his possession -based philosophy, but he rejected the idea as nonsense.
“After beating Napoli, three days later we changed our way of playing? F ***, I have to be a really good manager,” he said sarcastically. “It’s the same as before. The difference is that opponents play differently and sometimes we can’t do better.”
Guardiola noted that some of the largest victories in the city have come less off the ball-including a 3-1 win in Arsenal, two years ago with only 36.5%.
The manager emphasized that the style of the city will return to his best once their 10 summer signing sessions are arranged, including Gianluigi Donnarumma and the young goalkeeper James Trafford.
“We can be a stable team. When injured players come back and adjust the new, the team will grow,” Guardiola said.
Man City Carabao Cup Team News
With the Carabao Cup-equal game on Wednesday against Huddersfield on the Horizon, Guardiola confirmed that the 18-year-old Divine Mukasa and 17-year-old Stephen Mfuni will be in the team.
In the meantime, Trafford starts in Doel, while Kalvin Phillips will miss for family reasons.
It is expected that defender Abdukodir Khusanov is expected to be set aside for the next three games after picking up an ankle injury in the draw against Arsenal.
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