Pep Guardiola has made his feelings on three Man City players abundantly clear after drastic move
Manchester City fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League with Pep Guardiola displaying clear frustration at three players in particular.
Guardiola faced serious criticism for the performance, as well as his decision to drop the likes of Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Phil Foden as part of 10 changes in total.
Leverkusen were able to easily carve through the City backline, with goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick ensuring the German outfit secured all three points.
Guardiola has now overseen two defeats in a row after Man City were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle United on Saturday (22 November) evening.
Pep Guardiola makes triple substitution
As Man City headed into the break 1-0 down, Guardiola had already decided that he was going to execute a triple substitution.
He sent Foden, Doku and Nico O’Reilly out early to warm up, with the trio replacing Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb ahead of the second half.
Guardiola’s displeasure at the three players he hooked off is highlighted by the fact that it is just the fourth time in his tenure at Man City that he has made a triple substitution at the break (The Athletic).
Ait-Nouri, Lewis, and Bobb have all struggled for minutes so far this season and would’ve viewed the clash against Leverkusen as an opportunity to stake their claim for a more consistent role.
Instead, the exact opposite happened, with the trio now even further down the pecking order than before after facing the full wrath of a drastic Guardiola decision.
Pep Guardiola’s changes make little impact for Man City
Guardiola’s substitutions didn’t have the desired effect, as Man City failed to break through a resolute Bayer Leverkusen defence, despite a slight upturn in performance levels.
Schick doubled the German side’s lead within ten minutes of the restart, and although the Citizens dominated the ball for large parts of the second period, they were unable to haul themselves back into the contest.
Savinho was slammed by Man City fans for his display, with the Brazilian flattering to deceive despite being given the full 90 minutes by Guardiola.
The Manchester side will hope to get back to winning ways against Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday (29 November).