Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been slammed for disrespecting Liverpool with his team selection for Saturday's FA Cup semi-final.
Guardiola made seven changes from the starting line-up that held Atletico Madrid to a goalless draw last Wednesday, sealing their place in the Champions League semi-finals in the process. But it was a decision that would backfire badly on the Spaniard, with the Reds going three goals up before half-time.
Jurgen Klopp side were dominant in the opening 45 minutes and went ahead through Ibrahima Konate's header. The Reds then capitalised on a horrendous error by City keeper Zack Steffen, preferred to start over normal first-choice Ederson, to double their lead through Sadio Mane.
Mane then scored a wonderful volley at the end of the first-half to put Klopp's men in total control before the break. Though City did fight back with goals from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva bringing them back into the game, they were unable to find an equaliser.
The blame for City's collapse has been placed firmly at the door of Guardiola and his team selection. While his side were in the middle of a run if crucial games in the Premier League and Champions League, former Tottenham star Jamie O'Hara accused Guardiola of disrespecting Liverpool by making so many changes.
“It was a typical Pep Guardiola situation, where I feel like he’s ‘over-Pepped it’ again. Just play Ederson. I don’t know why you’re not playing Ederson. You need to be at completely full strength to get a result against Liverpool," O’Hara told talkSPORT.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Was Pep Guardiola wrong to make so many changes for Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool? Comment below.
“The only team in the world that I can I look at and go, ‘You can beat Liverpool’, is Man City when they’re at full strength. But they had no Kyle Walker and no Kevin De Bruyne. They had a really tough midweek clash against Atletico Madrid, which would have taken a lot out of them, travelling and all that sort of nonsense.
“I don’t think they even went back to Manchester, I think they flew straight to London. And then you go into that game and Liverpool came flying out the blocks. They rested players against Benfica, so they were at full strength.
“And you’re playing Steffen in goal?! It’s almost like you’re disrespecting Liverpool, in the sense that you think you can turn up in an FA Cup semi-final and play your second-string goalkeeper against the best team in the world right now. Come on, how many times do you want to do this?”
Having suffered that disappointment at Wembley, City are now only fighting on two fronts - the Premier League and Champions League. They sit just a point ahead of Liverpool in the top-flight table with seven games to play, starting with the visit of Brighton on Wednesday.
They then host Watford on Saturday before the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie with Real Madrid. Whether Guardiola will continue to rotate his team selection in the final month of the campaign remains to be seen, but Saturday's defeat arguably a direct result of that policy.
