1 week ago
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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola offered a little criticism of some of his players ahead of the Premier League game against Leeds United.
It was an unusually introspective and reflective Pep Guardiola who pulled up a chair in front of the media at the City Football Academy on Friday. This has been a bruising week for Manchester City, who have lost two games while watching Arsenal deliver two statement performances in contrast.
A week ago, it felt like City were about to lay down a challenge to the Gunners. Now Mikel Arteta's side are a short price to win the Premier League title and after their impressive win against Bayern Munich, they might just be the best team in Europe at the moment.
So Guardiola knows that the shackles will have to come off if his team are to stand any chance of stopping what could be shaping up to be a procession if Arsenal continue in this mood. That's why he was so disappointed with what happened against Bayer Leverkusen in midweek.
Guardiola spoke quietly and slowly on Friday, as if he wanted to measure his message. He felt like he picked every word with consideration for its wider meaning and how it would be perceived, not just by the fanbase but also in the dressing room.
Once again, the 54-year-old took the blame for what went wrong against Leverkusen on his shoulders. He admitted he now regrets making 10 changes and said he wouldn't be doing so again. But wrapped up in that was criticism of those who came in and the way they went about their task.
Too safe, was Guardiola's view. "We didn't try", wasn't a dig at the work rate of his players, but rather their lack of ambition and intent in the game. He felt they played not to make mistakes, rather than to take a risk to try and win a game of football, and he made it clear that was not acceptable.
"When that happens, you are not who you are. It’s simple," he said. "Good players, it doesn’t matter about the consequences – they try to do it. We didn’t do it the last game."
It was a subject Guardiola returned to again and again. For a press conference ostensibly to preview the next game, it was clear that his thoughts were still partly on what happened in midweek.
He had said at one point that maybe his own view of the ability of those players who played against the Bundesliga side was higher than their own opinion. But pressed on whether it was an issue of confidence, he rejected the idea.
"It’s not about the confidence," he said. "They have to have it. It’s their profession – they have to do it. They have to do the simple things. If you have the ball, you attack and score goals, make movements. Defensively, be aggressive enough, be present. We were none of that."
It felt like this was as critical as Guardiola gets, even if he was determined to take his share of the blame and make sure none of those who played were thrown under the bus. You might get the impression they would be blacklisted for a while, but he said his view of them hadn't changed at all and that it was his mistake to throw them all together.
"My opinion of them is top. It’s top," he said. "Nothing changes on the individual qualities as a person or a player. Really, really good players.
"I learnt that I can’t make mistakes, to put 10 players all together in a Champions League game if they don’t feel secure or comfortable together."
But there's no doubt the message will have been delivered in private. To bring it in so publicly and reinforce it several times shows Guardiola is doubling down on it.
It wasn't just meant for the team that fell to defeat against Bayer Leverkusen, either. This will have gone round the whole squad. They will all now know that the one thing they can't do is to produce a performance as docile as Tuesday's. Next time they get the chance, they have to show the intensity and the ambition that were missing in the Champions League.
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