11 hours ago
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola saw his team struggle at Arsenal but was proud of the effort - and the football principles
Pep Guardiola insisted nothing has changed at Manchester City as he laughed off comparisons to former rival Jose Mourinho following their 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
City had just 32 per cent possession at the Emirates, less than any Guardiola team has ever had, and were as defensive as teams have been for years against them in their ultimately unsuccessful effort to see out a 1-0 win. Such an apparent departure from Guardiola's principles led some to question if he was moving away from the formula that he has had so much success with, having spoken last season about City's need to keep up with the teams playing 'modern football'.
Guardiola accepted that Arsenal were better on the day but rubbished the idea that he no longer values possession, and went as far as to say that City's display was following the same Johan Cruyff instructions that had guided the rest of his career.
"When we won the Premier League we were a boring team, right? So that’s why I said 'okay, I’m going to make counter attacks more this season'" he joked.
"Maybe the players in the future can talk about how much I’ve changed this season. Maybe they are the ones who have the most credit to talk if I really changed approach, because they are in every meeting, every game, every post-match meeting. You can ask them.
"I think it’s completely the same. Completely. What’s changed is that the opponents play differently and we are not able to do it better. I said after the game that Arsenal were better.
"I don’t like to play the way we played at Arsenal but there are a lot of things that I loved, that I didn’t have in the past. Always I believed, when I started as a footballer under Johan Cruyff, that when a team goes man-to-man… he would say 'Pep, when you have the ball as a holding midfielder, look at Romario, look up front'. Why should we go shorter if that guy is being marked and this guy is being marked?
"You have to play up there, one against one. If you want to play one against one with Erling [Haaland] then play one against one. If you lose that duel, it will be a goal."
Guardiola has spoken about wanting to utilise counter-attacks more often this season when Haaland had space to run in behind, and the goal at Arsenal was another example of that. However, the City boss pointed to the performance against Napoli three days earlier to suggest that he will not be straying from his principles.
"Read that situation [to see] if we have one more player in the process," he said. "For example, we changed the way we played against Napoli? [No.] Three days later we changed our way to play? F*** I’m really good, I changed absolutely everything in three days! I must be a really, really good manager.
"Sometimes the opponents are good and create a challenge that we cannot handle. Until I retire in this club or retire, I would love to play in the way I want to play. Sometimes we are not good, sometimes the opponent is better.
"But for one game it’s bad and the team is going… I want the transition. When we defend deeper because they are better or we are s***, if you can run then run. If you can run the transition then run. It’s because we are there.
"But in the principles, I prefer us to regain the ball high up the pitch, make a lot of possession to disturb the structure of the opponents and try to punish them. Always it’s been like that and always I will be like that. If it doesn’t happen it is because we were bad, not because we want to do that."
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