Man City news: Pundit slams Pep Guardiola after ‘terrible’ claim – ‘don’t see Liverpool doing that’
Alan Hutton has insisted Man City boss Pep Guardiola has to take some responsibility for Saturday’s 3-2 FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Scotland defender questioned why the Spaniard left out his top stars, including goalkeeper Ederson, for such a big game.
Speaking at his post-match press conference (16 April), Guardiola claimed City had it “terrible in terms of fixtures” and that “fresh legs” were needed at Wembley.
He made seven changes from the starting XI who drew 0-0 against Atletico Madrid three days prior.
However, Hutton suggested Guardiola’s team selection contributed to the sub-standard performance on Saturday.
Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “Everybody’s played lot of games. Let’s not kid ourselves, he’s got a big squad.
“I think if you look at certain areas, like the goalkeeper, he makes a mistake. There’s an argument that you play your reserve goalkeeper in the cup competitions.
“But surely as a manager or whatever, you get to a certain stage and think: ‘I need to play my best XI, my best team.’
“You don’t see Liverpool doing that, you don’t see Celtic doing that. There are certain situations. That was still a strong team, let’s not kid ourselves.
“That’s still a team capable of going out and beating most Premier League opposition. You can moan about it, but everybody has to go through it.”
Goalkeeper Zack Steffan was at fault for one of the goals as Sadio Mane capitalised on his failure to clear.
Like Liverpool, City are still fighting for the Premier League and Champions League titles.
They face Brighton on Wednesday evening.
In other news, pundit claims Guardiola will have torn senior Man City star to shreds after his behaviour.