Pep Guardiola admits making Manchester City selection mistake ‘after 10 minutes’ against Southampton | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted he may have made a mistake in his team selection against Southampton after just 10 minutes in the contest.

The UEFA Champions League-chasing Blues struggled to create anything of clear note against the south coast club, who were insistent on frustrating the visitors on a sunny afternoon in front of their home support.

On an afternoon when much was being made of Southampton being threatened by the tag-line of the worst team in Premier League history, a solitary point took the Saints’ tally beyond Derby County’s illustrious 11-point count in the 2007/08 campaign.

Manchester City’s single point leaves them with work to do in the remaining two top-flight matches this season, knowing that they will still need to go in search of victories in order to get their place at the summit of European competition.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester after City’s 0-0 draw on the south coast, Pep Guardiola admitted the difficulty in breaking down such a stubborn Southampton defence camped around their own penalty area.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t score,” Guardiola immediately reacted upon full-time. “Our rhythm in the second-half was better especially because we had wingers. In the first-half we could not do it.”

The 54-year-old continued, “We miss some players in the final third, we need players for crosses into the box because they defend 11 players in the 18-yard box, it’s not easy. But the players gave everything, defensively so focussed, but unfortunately we could not do it.”

Guardiola did appear to admit he may have made a mistake in his Manchester City line-up selection, realising a clear need for more natural wingers after just 10 minutes gone in the match.

“We cannot control what the opponent decides [to do], we have to accept it,” Guardiola said of Southampton’s strategy on the afternoon. “And breaking them belongs to us.

“They want to do it in that way, being relegated, so, what can I say? I didn’t expect it, and after 10, 15 minutes I said we need wingers here in that game because we could not expect the game we were playing. And it is what it is.”

Pep Guardiola was also quizzed on the performance of Erling Haaland and the Norwegian’s fitness, as he started his first Manchester City match after recovering from an ankle injury sustained against Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-final.

“He’s been four, five weeks off! Today he played 97 minutes,” Guardiola said of his number nine. “He’s not a player like Phil [Foden] who needs only few training sessions to be fit, he moves his body and needs rhythm. But we have three games and go for it!”

Next up for Manchester City is their third consecutive FA Cup Final as they take on Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium, and it remains to be seen whether the performances of players against Southampton may have affected Pep Guardiola’s line-up thinking.