Pep Guardiola has responded to the self-proclaimed experts who always criticise his decision-making.
Football is a sport driven by passion and both fans and the media alike have tendencies to be very reactive.
Pep Guardiola knows this as well as anyone and he is seemingly bothered by the rapidly changing opinions people have about him as a manager.
The Manchester City boss has received plenty of praise throughout the season, including last weekend after the changes he made when his team defeated Newcastle.
However, Guardiola has once again become a target after Real Madrid inflicted a heavy defeat on the Sky Blues in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola is tired of his critics changing their minds
One day Guardiola was a hero and the next he became the villain. Clearly, this has been a frustrating situation for the 55-year-old.
Guardiola has addressed this situation in his pre-match press conference ahead of Man City’s visit to the London Stadium and he has hit back at his critics.
The manager told Hayters TV: “How many times do I hear, ‘Pep is a genius’ for the team selection? Genius if you win. What happened in Newcastle? Did you read the comments before the game, [about] my team selection, on the social media?
“How is Rodri not playing, how is Bernardo [Silva] not playing, how you don’t play this player, how do you leave Erling at home? We won 3-1. After that, ‘oh, Pep, how brilliant you have been’!”
Continuing his impassioned answer, Guardiola discussed the criticism he faced when Man City lost the 2020/21 Champions League final to Chelsea.
“It’s 17 years I’ve been managing in that competition, and every time I lose, boom. Pew, pew, pew,” he said.
“I have been massacred. Listen, I played a final of the Champions League without Fernandinho and Rodri as holding midfielder against Chelsea. Do you think that’s normal? No, honestly. Gundogan played in that moment. I was destroyed.
“I knew how Rodri was playing and Fernandinho was playing, it was not the Rodri that we met after, and in the other positions there are a lot of times many decisions coming for many, many, many reasons, for how you handle the pressure and the other ones.
“I can explain that but is it going to convince you for the next time?”
Guardiola added: “The storm passed, one day, now West Ham, go to the second-leg, and prepare for Tuesday. And when Tuesday will be there, oh I have a lot of fans in the media. Don’t worry. Supporters is a lot of fans. I have a lot.
“So what happens? It’s okay. It’s fine. I have to do my job and the best, honestly, knowing that if we win, it’s good, and if we lose, it’s bad.”
Guardiola must make changes to his Man City team against West Ham
The good news for Guardiola is that no one is going to ask him why he made no changes if he keeps the line-up he used in midweek when Man City play West Ham.
However, there are still plenty of wrong decisions Guardiola could make and he will be the first person to face the blame if City do not get a result.
It is important that he changes the team in a way which rights the wrongs of Wedneday night. Players must be placed in their strongest positions and there has to be a clear plan of how to break down the West Ham defence.
