Guardiola has no regrets about poking its side in Manchester City on Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds, with the Blues boss eager to point out that he is hailed as a genius when the rotation is on.
Pep Guardiola trusted the line-up
The Premier League leaders saw a home date with White sandwiched between the two legs of the Champions League quarter final clash with Borussia Dortmund. With one hand to the domestic title, Pep Guardiola opted for a tinker with his plans and leaves from his starting XI the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan. After seeing the crushing and grasping raid from Leeds that earned them all three points at the Etihad Stadium, Pep told reporters on the quiz on his team selection that when you lose the rebound is a mistake when they win, he is a genius.
He doesn’t want to make a choice because he trusts them and if he didn’t trust them, they would not play. Everyone was good. It was a transition game. According to him at 10 v 11 they need inspiration and they can’t let them run and that they did it for a long time, but then Raphina had a chance and Eddie Ederson saved and then scored. When you attack, attack and attack, you must control and not let them run, he said.
Leeds United was better team on Saturday
The city has long dominated whites, especially after visitors to Marcelo Bielsa’s reduced to 10 people. Liam Cooper saw red for a reckless challenge to Gabriel Jesus, but Stuart Dallas had opened an account by then. Ferran Torres regained parity in the second half, but it was the only successful effort out of 29 shots fired by the Blues. Leeds amassed just two, while Dallas doubled their tally in a day to snatch the dramatic winner. City remain clear 14 points at the top of the table, with Pep not losing too much one setback as his side prepares to take a narrow 2-1 lead to Dortmund for a crisp continental clash on Wednesday. Congratulations to Leeds first of all, he said.