Guardiola hits out at Wenger critics

Published Feb 20, 2017

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London – Pep Guardiola has hit out at pundits who he claims ‘disrespect’ Premier League managers and launched a passionate defence of Arsene Wenger.

The Manchester City manager defended his eight team changes for Saturday’s goalless FA Cup draw at Huddersfield Town, and he claims he is a victim of the same wise-after-the-event criticism that has been levelled at Wenger since his side’s 5-1 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

Guardiola made eight changes at the John Smith’s Stadium but his second-string side could not find a way to beat the Championship side.

“My friend, I take my decisions and you analyse them after,” he told a reporter. “I have to take the decision before. The best solution was what I'd done. After, if you don't agree then you can write.

“What I've heard in the last 10 days about how the people - former players and journalists - treated for example Arsene Wenger is unacceptable.

“For me our job at the moment we don't have any respect for any position. What happened was unrespectful. We take decisions and you can say whatever you want.”

City now face an unwanted replay next Tuesday - a fixture that they must fit in alongside their Premier League and European commitments. They face Monaco on Tuesday in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Midfielder Fernando said: “Our target was to win (at Huddersfield). We didn't win it, but we don't have to have any regrets. We just have to focus on the replay and make sure we get through to the next round.

“We know that Monaco are a good team. They are playing well in their league. We know it will be a really difficult game, but we are ready to face them.

"I don't think the changes had any influence. We train together every day and do what our manager asks us to do.

“Maybe some players didn't have the rhythm, but I don't think that affected us too much. We played well, we created chances, but unfortunately we couldn't score.”

Huddersfield face a huge game of their own tomorrow with the visit of fellow promotion hopefuls Reading, and midfielder Izzy Brown, who is on loan from Chelsea, believes Saturday’s game shows the club are ready for promotion.

He said: “We've drawn 0-0 against one of the best teams in the Premier League. It shows we are ready to fight against the best opposition and that we're well equipped to deal with the best players. The boys did really well.”

The Independent

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