Pep Guardiola DEFENDS his choice of team after making SEVEN changes to Manchester City’s semi-final loss to Liverpool … and refuses to blame goalkeeper Zach Stephen for the “accident” that gave Sadio Mane a simple goal at Wembley
- Pep Guardiola made seven changes from the country, which played on Wednesday
- Man City lost the semi-final of the FA Cup against Liverpool on Saturday
- Guardiola insisted it was the right decision to change his team at Wembley
- He also defended Zack Steffen after the costly roar of the goalkeeper in the first half
By Dominic King for The Mail on Sunday
Posted: 20:12, 16 April 2022 | Updated: 23:04, 16 April 2022
Pep Guardiola insisted he did not regret the team he chose at Wembley and refused to blame reserve goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Guardiola made seven changes to the team, which drew 0-0 with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday to advance to the Champions League, with one of the most notable being Ederson’s break for Steffen, who plays in most national cup tournaments.
Steffen was to blame for Liverpool’s second goal, as his bad touch allowed Sadio Mane to make him and punish him to the maximum. The United States national team player – who also had questions he had to answer to allow Manet’s volley to slip past him at half-time – was visibly defeated at the final referee’s signal and comforted by Ruben Diaz on the pitch.
Man City lost in the FA Cup semi-finals, but Pep Guardiola did not regret his choice of team
Zack Steffen made an important mistake in the first half, but Guardiola refused to blame his goalkeeper
Guardiola said: “I have a lot of confidence in my players. We had a lot of matches and trips and a lot of important matches, so I chose the team.
“The first goal (by Ibrahim Konate) was a set where Liverpool are so strong and score a lot of goals, and the second was an accident. Then we conceded a goal in the last minute of the first half, but then we showed incredible pride.
“We didn’t look tired after scoring because football is about momentum. We had the cleanest positions and scored goals. It is not easy to do this against Liverpool. We fought to the end and showed our pride. ‘
Ibrahima Konate scored from a corner in the first half to give Liverpool the lead
Sadio Mane also scored twice to give Liverpool a dominant half-time lead.
Guardiola praised his team for their pride when they almost came back in the second half
For Steffen, Guardiola added: “It was an accident, but we have to try because that’s how we play our football.
“I talked to the team as a whole, but it was an accident, it happens. Eddie was close (by mistake) in the last game. Happens. We need this to create our football. Of course, you need to reconsider whether this happens quite often, but we use our guard to move our opponents to different situations.
“I would say that on average, the way we create our opportunities, these things can happen. This is an accident. I’m pretty sure Zack didn’t want to do it. Sometimes the attackers miss in front of the goalkeeper, other times the goalkeeper makes a mistake.
Add Comment