Micah Richards believes Pep Guardiola is "at the end of his tether" after the Spaniard's remarkable interview following Manchester City's 4-2 win over Tottenham.
Spurs led City 2-0 at half-time at the Etihad Stadium thanks to two late first-half goals, prompting boos from the home fans as a frustrated Guardiola and his team made their way down the tunnel. However, City would close the gap on league leaders Arsenal by storming back to claim all three points.
Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez all struck within a 12-minute period to turn the game on its head, before Algeria star Mahrez added his second of the game to wrap up the points for City with a terrific dinked finish. But it wasn't enough to change Guardiola's move, as the City boss launched into a furious rant against his own team - and supporters - in a spiky post-match interview with Sky Sports, before walking out .
A raging Guardiola insisted that his side lacked "passion and desire" in the first half and questioned why supporters were "so silent".
The former Barcelona manager said: "We play short and we play because our manager told us how to play like this and have to do this, but there is nothing from the stomach and the guts. We were lucky but without change sooner or later again we are going to drop points.
"[We are lacking] passion, desire, to win from minute one. It’s the same for our spectators, our fans. They are so silent for 45 minutes. I want my fans back. I want my fans in here. Not my away fans - my away fans is the best. But my fans in here, we want support for every corner, their reaction and support, because we play, we cannot expect [to win].
"I don’t recognise my team. I’m not going to tell you what I said. I want a reaction for all the club, all the organisation, the players, the staff, everyone. We are a happy flowers team. I don’t want to be a happy flowers, I want to beat Arsenal, but if we play in that way Arsenal will destroy us, they will beat us. I want to see my team.
“The players want it, they train really good but there is something that is here in the clouds. You cannot express. I see Arsenal games and they do everything good, that is why they are in front and deserve it.
“And I say this after 4-2. I am incredibly happy, I will sleep tonight like a baby. I have experience. I have won a lot. It means every day I see things that you don’t see because you are not there. I see it. It is not one single player, everyone is there. It is everyone, as much as we realise it, we will come back.”
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It was an interview that left Richards concerned about how emotional Guardiola managed to get despite winning the game.
"It was scathing, that wasn't it? His interviews are normally very sarcastic, today he came out and... it was almost as if he was saying he'd had enough of the situation of producing something so good, but nobody seems to be satisfied," Richards told Sky Sports.
"We talked about the level and the standards and the desire, of not just the players. When you start going and talking about the fans and stuff it's a difficult situation.
"When the fans boo, it's never acceptable. It's like he's taken that personally. He's a top manager, done great things - four [Premier Leagues] in the last five. It's like he's at the end of his tether, and I've not seen him like that before."
