Pep Guardiola took the strain of a surprise FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United away from his players, after City’s hopes of a ‘double-double’ were dashed after a 2-1 defeat at Wembley Stadium. The Spaniard dismissed any talk of a hangover after their Premier League title celebrations, and also offered some words of support for his counterpart, Erik ten Hag.
Pep Guardiola took responsibility for Manchester City’s FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United after the Spaniard admitted to misjudging his tactics before the match.
First-half strikes from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo secured The Red Devils a 13th victory in the competition, before Jeremy Doku scored what proved to be a consolation goal for the Premier League champions.
When asked in his post-match press conference if City’s sluggish performance was to blame for the defeat, Guardiola replied: “No, it was my decisions [that cost us] and we were not in the right position to attack them [United].
“It’s my mistake – the game plan was not good.”
The City boss was reluctant to elaborate on what he meant, but hinted that an uncharacteristic lack of cutting edge in front of goal was a key contributing factor behind the defeat.
“The players know it, the reason why,” Guardiola said. “Tactically, it was not good. I had the feeling it was not good today.
“You plan a game for different positions, but didn’t work – it’s as simple as that.
“The crosses came to nothing when we came to the byline; they had one shot where we gave the goal away, and then the goal for Mainoo – no more than that.
“As always when we play against United, we more or less had control and normally we score from what we created in the second half, but we were not able to do it.”
“His ambitions and aims match ours perfectly and we feel he is the perfect candidate to provide the exciting and attacking brand of football that we all like to see and help us achieve the club’s mission.”
Guardiola afterwards paid tribute to opposite number Erik ten Hag amid growing speculation about the Dutchman’s future at Old Trafford.
The Spaniard was also keen to stress that City’s loss should not detract from a campaign which yielded an historic fourth consecutive top-flight title.
“They have to take a decision [United on Ten Hag’s future], so I don’t know,” Guardiola said. “But of course, he’s a lovely person and an extraordinary manager.
“So, of course, winning the FA Cup is important for them like it was for us last season.”He added: “Now we’re sad, but we’ll celebrate our incredible achievement tomorrow [at the Premier League trophy parade].
“In football and in life, you win and you lose. We lost in the right way, especially in the second half, as they [the players] didn’t give up and kept going.”