 "<div>Pep Guardiola goes on X-rated rant as he explains Man City sacrificing their identity vs Arsenal: 'I don’t give a f*** about the results'</div>")
Pep Guardiola defended his tactics doggedly as Man City were accused of sacrificing their identity in the draw against Arsenal on Sunday.
A frustrated Pep Guardiola took a dig at the media after he was forced to ‘park the bus’ against Arsenal in their 1-1 draw in the English Premier League on Sunday. This is the first time City have played such a defensive game since Spanish master tactician Guardiola took over at the club in 2016.
Man City only had a 32.8 per cent share of possession, the lowest ever under Guardiola, as they scored as early as the 9th minute through Erling Haaland and decided to defend throughout the game. Gabriel Martinelli found the equaliser for Arsenal in the third minute of the final injury time as Arsenal lost two crucial points in the title race.
Pep Guardiola goes on X-rated rant
When asked about his ultra-defensive tactics, a furious Guardiola pointed out his proud record of winning six EPL titles with Man City and a Champions League, as he also gave credit to Arsenal for the draw.
“I can’t live in this country with another record. I’m so proud of it. You have to give Arsenal a lot of credit,” Guardiola said.
“One time in 10 years is not bad, eh? I have to prove myself again with a different strategy. So, now I have a transition team. I said I don’t give a f*** about the results, I want to see the spirit back in the training sessions and us enjoying. After that is tactics. We lost it last season and we had to recover.
“This week we have recovered. We have to continue. And from there we will, learn the process, the tactics, our way we feel more comfortable to win games and be proud of ourselves.”
Guardiola also joked that he would prefer to see the ball closer to Arsenal keeper David Raya than his own Gianluigi Donnarumma. “I suffered! I want the ball to be closer to Raya, not Gigi,” he said.
He went on to add that Arsenal were the better team and in order to survive, City had to sacrifice their identity.
“We were so close, we were resilient and I would prefer to play in a certain way but in ten years we play against a lot of teams who defend deep, deep, deep. Sometimes you play against a team who are better in that way and you have to survive in that way, you have to accept it and we did it.”
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