‘Do you think we don’t pay attention to the game? It is a poor argument’: Fired-up Pep Guardiola hits back at claims he disrespected the FA Cup by making EIGHT changes as juggling stars for quadruple quest backfires
- Man City boss Pep Guardiola has hit back at claims he disrespected the FA Cup
- He made eight changes to his team for their 1-0 semi-final loss against Chelsea
- The chances came after they beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League
- Guardiola’s men suffered an FA Cup defeat at the hands of Thomas Tuchel’s side
Pep Guardiola hit back angrily at accusations that he disrespected the FA Cup by making eight changes to his side after beating Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek.
His opposite number Thomas Tuchel, with a day extra to recover from Champions League exertions, made only three Chelsea changes. One of those, Hakim Ziyech, scored the winning goal in Saturday’s semi-final. Wth City’s quadruple bid falling by the wayside, Guardiola defended his team changes — which he said were enforced.
‘Do you think we don’t pay attention to the game?’ said Guardiola, in a passionate defence of his team and their efforts this season.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hit back at claims he disrespected the FA Cup
‘Do you think Sterling or Ferran Torres or Gabriel Jesus don’t deserve to play the game? I don’t think that we didn’t pay attention. A team that arrives in the final stages of all competitions, you couldn’t say that. Just say we lost the game. And when you lost the game, the decisions are bad. But it is a poor argument, my friends, it is so poor an argument.
He made eight changes to his side after beating Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League
However, Guardiola’s men suffered an FA Cup defeat at the hands of Thomas Tuchel’s side
‘We wouldn’t get to the semi-final of the FA Cup or the final of the Carabao Cup four times in a row and semi-final of the Champions League if we don’t pay attention. We had many, many games with this team in the FA Cup over four or five years and we always play to try to win.
‘It was a tight game. We were not able to win. Congratulations Chelsea. Chelsea is a top side. With the amount of new players that came to Chelsea this season, this can happen.
‘But if you don’t believe we don’t pay attention for that, what would happen if the result today was completely different and we win? What happens? With eight changes?’