Pep Guardiola slammed for Manchester City team selection in Champions League final

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was lambasted for his team selection against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final last night.

Manchester City lost 1-0 to Chelsea courtesy of a first-half goal by Kai Havertz, which has caused Pep Guardiola's team selection to be questioned. The Spaniard decided not to start a holding midfielder against the Blues, with both Fernandinho and Rodri being benched for the game.

This led to Manchester City losing the midfield battle against Chelsea, which eventually cost them the game.

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara was enraged by Pep Guardiola's decision to experiment in a game of such magnitude.

He told talkSPORT:

"It's one of the worst performances I've seen from Manchester City in a long time. Bottle jobs. And an absolute disaster of a team selection from Pep Guardiola. I cannot believe he got it so wrong in such a big moment. Guardiola got it so wrong with the team selection with no holding midfielder. If Timo Werner could shoot, it would have been 3-0 at half-time. They [Chelsea] were all over them. I couldn't believe what I was watching. It was a disgrace from Pep Guardiola.

"Pep Guardiola’s arrogance at half-time to not hold his hands up and say, ‘I’ve got this wrong, we’re still in the game, I need to bring Fernandinho on now and get it sorted’. He waited until the 64th minute to change it and then they were in control, but you can’t break down this Chelsea team in half an hour. You need a longer period of time. It was too little, too late. Pep Guardiola should go in that dressing room and apologise to every single player because he’s the one that’s cost them the Champions League."

PEP 💬 I am not clever enough to think about next season. It was a season with 62 games and we played 61. It was really tough for us all in the pandemic world and everything. If today we analyse the game of course we are sad, congratulations to Chelsea.

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 29, 2021

Pep Guardiola's team selection was especially shocking because Manchester City had played the previous 59 games with either Fernandinho or Rodri in their starting XI.

Pep Guardiola defends Manchester City team selection

Manchester City were defeated

Pep Guardiola addressed the media after Manchester City's loss. The Spaniard was asked about his team selection for the game.

He explained:

"I did what I thought was the best decision. I did my best in the selection. I made the best selection to win the game, the players know it. I think Gundogan played well. We missed a little in the first half to break the lines, but in the second half it was much better. It was a tight game but we had enormous chances."

Did Pep Guardiola get his tactics wrong? 😪Here's what he had to say 😕 pic.twitter.com/vxBJs46irg

— Goal (@goal) May 30, 2021

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