Pep Guardiola and Ilkay Gundogan had a clash of opinions over Manchester City’s 2-0 loss to Juventus on Wednesday evening.
The Cityzens have endured a torrid six weeks of football, with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest being their only victory in the last 10 games. Wednesday’s defeat to the Old Lady added to what has been a disastrous run.
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Gundogan’s assessment
After the game, Gundogan gave a blunt assessment, stating that his side were trying to “overcomplicate things,” leading to two goals from counter-attacks by the opposition.
“It’s very disappointing,” the German midfielder told TNT via Goal.
“We had chances to score a few goals, but at the moment it feels like every attack we concede is just so dangerous. I have a feeling sometimes we are a bit careless with duels. Instead of playing simple, we overcomplicate things and miss the right timing to release the ball.
“Just lose the ball and give them counter-attacks. We are built for possession, to keep the ball, be strong. If you can’t do anything, don’t lose it. At the moment, it’s not working out for us.”
Guardiola’s response to Gundogan’s comment
Guardiola, however, disagreed with Gundogan’s view, insisting that while the result didn’t go their way, their performance against Juve could not be questioned.
“He said we don’t need…sorry?” the surprised Spanish manager asked when told of his midfielder’s comment.
“No, no, we did it today. Other days, no, but today we did it, we did it really well. We didn’t lose many balls as happened in the past. We tried to arrive in the best positions. Italian teams defend so deep, they are so compact; they are masters of these situations.
“Even with that, we played like who we are. We missed the result, but the performance is there.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola will hope his team put their midweek setback behind them as they prepare for this weekend’s Manchester derby at the Etihad, aiming to bounce back to winning ways.
