GUARDIOLA: WE WERE ANXIOUS AFTER SCORING
PEP GUARDIOLA admitted Manchester City lost belief when they were a goal up during yesterday’s capitulation against Leicester.
Riyad Mahrez had given City an early lead but Guardiola bemoaned a nervousness within the team as they failed to convert dominance in possession into a second goal.
City conceded five goals at home for the first time in 17 years and the defeat serves as a significant early blow to their title aspirations.
‘We didn’t create much and started to think we weren’t playing well,’ said Guardiola (below). ‘We put pressure on ourselves to score the second but we have to be more calm. We were anxious, we got nervous when not creating chances. We told them at half-time that they were playing good, try to be patient.
‘Then to concede the second and third it became more difficult. They defended so deep. When that has happened in the past, we have won in small margins. We don’t have players to attack the box.
‘It’s difficult when a team plays deep and doesn’t run. We need to be more patient, not chase the second and third goals. It’s not easy to accept, but we have to accept it. Maybe we should let them get out more and punish them on the counter.’
City registered only five shots on target and must hope the £64million signing of Ruben Dias from Benfica will bring more defensive solidity. Nicolas Otamendi is heading in the opposite direction for around £13.7m.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers lauded the versatility of his players after Jamie Vardy’s hat-trick inspired one of the standout results of the season — and claimed he went against his instincts to secure victory.
‘We set the team up to play a little differently,’ he said. ‘We’re normally high pressing but we wanted to deny them the space deeper.
‘You won’t have seen too many of my teams play like that. You have to work like hell against City. We were such a threat offensively. You can’t perform like that without being in sync.
‘We showed a great mentality. We didn’t panic. We knew we could push on in the second half.’