Guardiola: Blues were up to speed on system
PEP Guardiola said his City players were well-prepared to play in an unusual formation before crashing out of the Champions League.
The Blues began against Lyon with three central defenders, but never truly looked like themselves until Guardiola switched things by replacing Fernandinho with Riyad Mahrez ten minutes into the second half.
That led to the manager being severely criticised for tinkering with City’s setup.
But he said they had been developing it on their Lisbon training ground since last week.
“I would say we worked three days about this, and we discussed about this and we reviewed about this,” he said. “When you play the last 15 to 20 minutes in that system so in the way we played it was really good so it’s not a problem.
“So, but I didn’t know how it would work but I know this situation and the decision to make it and why I did it.” Asked if his players felt comfortable with the system, Guardiola said:
“The first 15-20 minutes no but half an hour the last 15 minutes of the first half we were so comfortable. In this competition tactics is not the most important thing.
“They (Lyon) are so fast up front, they play when they have the ball, they contact a little bit with the strikers or the midfield players already attack, incredibly fast through the channel.
“And we have not-so-quick central defenders. We didn’t want to leave them two-on-two even further build-up, we were more solid in to make the three and two in that position.
“Maybe it can help us to do it better. That is the reason why but the last 15-20 minutes of the first half we were there, we were more aggressive the central defenders, the people and Kevin, finally we could contact with him after we struggled a little bit in the first 10-15 minutes.
“But this is normal sometimes you need time to let the game settle. You’re in this position unfortunately, when an action in the front of ball, we suffered and we struggled for the goal.
“But after, the game was good. We created a lot, but we made one or two mistakes in this competition and it is so, so hard. It happened last season, again with Tottenham, so maybe one day we will improve and we will break this situation.”
We created a lot, but we made one or two mistakes in this competition and it is so, so hard
Pep Guardiola