Liverpool 3-0 Manchester City | Guardiola’s blurred vision
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Three goals conceded with no shots on target and Manchester City on Wednesday night at Anfield looked out-classed and out-thought.
Against the supposed most cerebral football manager in the world, Pep Guardiola, that is saying something but it shouldn’t have surprised many as Jurgen Klopp seems to have a template for beating the former Bayern Munich gaffer. The record now stands at seven wins from 13 confrontations.
Nicolas Otamendi and Kyle Walker were targeted and without Mohamed Sane and Roberto Firmino at their very best, the energy and the pressing plus the Kop ensured Guardiola had a headache by the 32nd minute.
But Guardiola knew and knows how Klopp would set up his team and the use of ‘Gegenpressing’ but he still fell into the trap with his eyes wide open.
“The way they attack the space, they are so good. Of course, we will try to do something, but I feel the best way to win is to play how we’ve been doing as a group all season.”
They say it is only a madman that continues to do the same thing and expects a different result but Guardiola refused to change.
While Klopp has often been vilified for his team’s defensive naivety, Liverpool on Wednesday showed they have learned how to defend, although Virgil van Dijk’s acquisition in January that must have helped. Wednesday’s shutout was Liverpool’s sixth clean sheet in their last six UEFA Champions League games but Guardiola depended on his Plan A, as some questions arise whether he possesses a Plan B?
Guardiola agreed somewhat in the post-match interview that he might have been wrong to drop Raheem Sterling for Ilkay Gundogan. “More passes, more control, Gundogan is very good at arriving in the second line, we wanted to have more control in midfield.” And was it the right decision: “We lost three-zero.”
For a team that has scored over 100 goals this season, it was abysmal not to have one shot on target. “We didn’t create clear chances because they defended deep. We needed one goal but we couldn’t score it,” Guardiola added.
Afterward, Klopp hailed his players for a fantastic first half, especially the first 30 minutes. “The first half was brilliant. It was how football should look. We knew about City’s quality but also about our quality as well. If we could control the game better against a team like Man City and not give the ball away we would be closer to them in the league.”
Klopp had called for bravery from his players and on the evidence of the showing and the win – maybe all that is needed to battle Guardiola’s out-of-this-world ideas is just bravery – sometimes!
