Pep might call himself vindicated.
He gets criticised for his approach – his all-out attack, we’ll score more than you approach – and he seems to anger people with his lack of tactical regard for each opposition his teams face. Defensively at least.
For the same reason that Jose Mourinho is criticised for setting his teams up to snuff out the others, Guardiola takes flak for not doing something similar.
Wednesday night’s Champions League clash at the Etihad was something special.
City took the spoils 5-3 on the night but the game was like no other we’ve seen in a long, long time.
Wow. What a game.
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarrett) February 21, 2017
From Falcao’s diving header, his missed penalty, his unbelievable chip – to Aguero’s volley, Stones’ cock-up and Stones’ redemption, this was something special. It was a spectacle to end all spectacles and it was brought about mostly because both Monaco’s and City’s defences were absolute dog crap.
And Falcao was class.
What a game! What a goal! @FALCAO with a sensational finish. 🔥🔥🔥 #UCL #CityvMonaco https://t.co/q7mbLloqpr
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 21, 2017
It looked very perilous for a while for the hosts though who went 2-1 down at half time and were fortunate to see Falcao miss a penalty straight after half time.
Even when City equalised, the French outfit went 3-2 up only for Guardiola’s approach to eventually pay off with three further goals to no reply.
The Spanish manager’s decision to play David Silva, Yaya Toure and Kevin de Bruyne in a midfield three was lambasted by Graeme Souness who couldn’t believe they would opt for no defensive minded players in a game of such magnitude.
“Arrogant”, he called Guardiola. And he didn’t stop there.
After the game, Souness said that “Guardiola was fortunate to get away with it.”
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