Premier LeagueA spectacular – and vital – turnaround. Manchester City, where Kevin De Bruyne stayed on the bench for ninety minutes, tickles leader Arsenal again after a great second half against Tottenham (4-2). But Pep Guardiola? He was not impressed in the least. Immediately afterwards, in a chat with the rights holders, he already targeted what was blue and white.
“If we play with such a lack of passion this season, I can tell you that we are not going to win anything,” Pep Guardiola began his rock-hard analysis. “The same with the fans, who were silent for 45 minutes. We were booed at half time for losing, not for playing badly. We were the better team. They jeered at us, but maybe that’s just us. Maybe we feel too comfortable because we played champions four times in five years. (…) I don’t recognize my team anymore. Until recently there was passion and desire to run. Do you think we will close the gap with Arsenal in this way? Under no circumstances.”
We are an organization of cheerful flowers. I don’t want happy flowers, I want to beat Arsenal. And if we start playing like that, they’ll destroy us.
“I want a response from the whole club – from everyone,” continued the 52-year-old Spaniard. “We are an organization of happy flowers. I don’t want happy flowers, I want to beat Arsenal. we are devastated. We are miles away from the team we were in previous seasons. Do you think that every season will succeed in achieving such a comeback? Certainly not, “it sounded. And also at the official press conference after that he went on like this for a while.
LOOK. Guardiola immediately confronted with his harsh words
In any case, Guardiola had chosen to keep Kevin De Bruyne on the bench for the entire match. “A personal issue” kept him from the training field for a while and now also from the base team against Tottenham. From his seat, De Bruyne saw City take a double uppercut just before half-time: Kulusevski punished a blunder by Ederson, Emerson added another scoop a minute later.
City halfway in nests, leader Arsenal wanted it to happen. But the Citizens showed a different face after the break. Alvarez and Haaland cleared the backlog in no time. Mahrez knocked Lloris into his short corner a few minutes later – although Perisic could just as well have made it 2-3 just before. The Etihad Stadium exploded. In the end Mahrez did all the books: 4-2.
City breathes a sigh of relief after two defeats. It reduces the gap to Arsenal to five points, although the Gunners still have a match in credit.
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LOOK. Guardiola on what was going on with De Bruyne
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