... and Guardiola calls for action as City denied again
Spurs boss scores another point in big rivalry
PEP GUARDIOLA has demanded football chiefs ‘fix it’ after Manchester City were on the wrong end of a massive VAR call in last night’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
Gabriel Jesus had an injury-time ‘winner’ chalked off when the VAR informed referee Michael Oliver that the ball had brushed Aymeric Laporte’s arm in the build-up.
Guardiola, still scarred by Fernando Llorente’s handled winner for Spurs in the Champions League, fears double standards are wrecking the game.
‘It’s honestly tough but it’s the way it is,’ said Guardiola, who was furious that VAR hadn’t given a penalty for a foul on Rodri.
‘VAR was taking a coffee. It was incredible it wasn’t a penalty but VAR said it wasn’t and then at the end they did.
‘It’s inconsistent They have to fix it.’
LISTENING to both managers 24 hours before the game, there is almost an embarrassment at their undeniable rivalry. Mauricio Pochettino wants the conversation to be about Tottenham and City, not himself and Pep Guardiola.
Which is all well and good — Guardiola offered similar sentiment — but both always seem to say just enough for that rivalry to remain alive. They cannot help themselves. Respect is grudging, certainly.
Their press conferences have become an entertaining spectator sport, Pochettino’s jokey boxing analogy — let’s get in the ring to slug it out.
It was not so light-hearted when they spent the final minutes of stoppage time yesterday debating the VAR decision that ultimately changed the outcome of the fixture. Just as it had that night last April.
The football had been exhausting. Tottenham are one of very few — perhaps Liverpool are the only other side — who can lay a glove on the Premier League champions. Pochettino is the only manager to beat Guardiola since early February, a run of 25 games. His team sat in at the Etihad, allowed the home team to work the body and waited for opportunities to counter at pace when the City guard was down.
They force Guardiola to overthink on occasions and that could have been directed at him yesterday when the three points did go City’s way — Ilkay Gundogan’s selection over David Silva of specific interest. Gabriel Jesus had looked like retaining his place all week, only for Sergio Aguero to get the nod late on.
City eventually came up short in their late search for a winner. Tottenham were magnificent on the break again, finding ways of hurting them. Ducking and diving, making sure they remained standing. A great deal of that is down to the man leading them. Not only his tactical nous, but also a galvanising personality that takes on the untouchables.
Tensions between the two managers have simmered for some time, dating back to their spell as adversaries in Spain, and that is in part down to familiarity breeding contempt. Pochettino has not faced anyone else more often than his 18 meetings with Guardiola. Only Jose Mourinho has sat in the opposite dugout to Guardiola more times than the Tottenham boss.
In that sense, there is more opportunity for both to wind each other up before and after matches, more chance of persistent trivial rhetoric to build into something altogether more serious. Just look at ‘the Harry Kane’ team comments for reference.
Pochettino is of the belief that his refusal to single out Lionel Messi while Espanyol manager should have dictated more respect here in England. To his mind, that has never been forthcoming and, as such, Guardiola’s eulogising of this Tottenham team and its manager has fallen largely on deaf ears.
Pochettino suspects any praise to be on the far end of the faux spectrum. Whether that is true or not, only Guardiola knows.
Guardiola, for his part, can do nothing but continue to talk Tottenham up the only way he knows how. It is over-the-top, it can be overblown, but anyone who has spent any time in the Catalan’s company knows his repertoire.
Publicly, he allows this all to wash over him yet privately, the City manager is perplexed by Pochettino’s belly aching. ‘Even if he doesn’t believe me, he’s a top, top, top, top manager,’ said Guardiola.
Pochettino actually gets along with a number of Guardiola’s staff and counts some of them as friends. Assistant Mikel Arteta, fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura and doctor Eduardo Mauri are close with him.
It is not quite the same with the manager. They are very different people, which makes the pair all the more absorbing.
City’s manager pushes the boundaries of the technical area, almost inching that white line closer to the pitch, then giving fourth official Paul Tierney an ear bashing after Michael Oliver’s inconsistency — that sort of animation. The rather aggressive spat he engaged in with Aguero when hooking the club’s greatest-ever goalscorer is another example of his style.
Pochettino, meanwhile, sits and watches, whispering to assistant Jesus Perez. The Argentine sat motionless for both equalisers — even given the dramatic nature of Lucas Moura scoring only 19 seconds after coming off the bench.
A former Espanyol manager and Barcelona legend are never likely to get on, particularly when the former is so close with Mourinho. Guardiola is viewed as the man who has always enjoyed it all, something his rival has bemoaned to friends.
Finance is a significant bone of contention.
With this draw Tottenham have struck an early blow this season, albeit fortunately. Now they need to sustain this. By Jack Gaughan