“I thought he had a lot more class than that” - Liverpool legend slams Guardiola for six finger gesture after ‘you’re getting sacked’ chants from fans

Liverpool icon Steve Nicol has slammed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for his gesture during their Premier League clash on Sunday, December 1. The Reds beat the Cityzens 2-0 at Anfield to continue their brilliant start to the season.

Cody Gakpo gave them the lead in the 12th minute. Mohamed Salah then converted a penalty in the 78th minute after Stefan Ortega was deemed to have fouled Luis Diaz in the box. After the second goal, Liverpool fans started chanting "Sacked in the morning" towards Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard raised six fingers in response to denote the number of Premier League titles he's won.

Former Reds right-back Steve Nicol wasn't too pleased with the Manchester City manager's reaction, as he said on ESPN FC:

“I didn’t like it. The first time he did it, I thought it was okay. But the second time when he did it after the game, I thought it was a bit crass. I thought he had a lot more class than that. It showed that things are getting to him.

“He’s never in his life went through what 99 per cent of other managers have. He’s never experience that anywhere. Now he’s experiencing it and he doesn’t like it.”

Manchester City are notably winless in their last seven games across competitions with six defeats and one draw.

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Pep Guardiola explains his gesture in Manchester City's defeat against Liverpool

Guardiola also repeated the gesture of raising six fingers to denote his titles after the game while acknowledging the Manchester City fans. In his post-match press conference, he explained the reason behind his gesture, saying he didn't expect such a chant from Liverpool fans. He said (via The Guardian):

"I'm so proud of my six Premier Leagues against that [Liver­pool] team and the previous team [under Jürgen Klopp]. I didn’t expect Anfield to start chanting at 0-2 that I would be sacked. Maybe I deserved to be sacked with our results! Maybe I’m still in the job because I won six Premier Leagues and a lot of titles.

“They want to sack me. I wish they were more kind. Why didn’t they do it at 0-1? Why didn’t they do it last season when we won the Premier League? Why do they want to sack me now? I didn’t expect that from Anfield, for other clubs like Brighton I can understand it. But for Anfield I didn’t expect this, maybe it is the respect we have. They know we have won six Premier Leagues. But it’s fine, it’s part of the game.”

Manchester City are now fifth in the Premier League table, 11 points behind leaders Liverpool. They will next host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, December 4.