- Guardiola reacts to Man City’s draw with Bournemouth
- Highlights lack of recovery time for visitors
- Maintains performance was ‘really good’
Pep Guardiola has shared why he reckons Manchester City were unable to defeat Bournemouth, after a result which has seen Arsenal win the Premier League.
Man City knew what was required against Bournemouth. Anything less than a win, and the league trophy would be heading to North London.
Despite this, the Sky Blues were quite poor at the Vitality Stadium, falling behind when Eli Junior Kroupi scored an effort which he curled into the top right corner of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s net.
Erling Haaland pulled one back right at the end, but this did not leave City with enough time to push for a victory.
The match ended 1-1 and Arsenal were crowned champions of the Premier League, causing Man City to miss out on the title for a second successive season.
Pep Guardiola blames fatigue for Man City’s draw
It was clear that Pep Guardiola’s team were off the pace on Tuesday night, and he has put this down to the lack of preparation time his team were afforded.
Since Bournemouth played Fulham on May 9, City fulfilled three fixtures before taking them on at the Vitality.
Guardiola told Sky Sports: “Tough game, we knew it. We missed a little bit of energy, that is normal.
“They had 12 days to prepare that game, a team that plays with this energy, and the players up front. But we had three days, three days, three days, travels, but we fought.
“First half was really good, second half we started really good, and after the substitutions didn’t make the impact that we needed, and they had chances. At the end, we found a goal, but it was too late.”
Man City left themselves chasing Arsenal
Other than when City defeated Burnley and went top of the Premier League table, they have consistently been at a disadvantage.
Too many points were dropped earlier in the season against teams the Citizens should have beaten, and this is why the title has been lost.
Winning every single game when the schedule became so busy was never a realistic target, as City have shown signs of being completely burnt out.
With Guardiola’s side always on the backfoot, coming out on top at the end of the campaign was always going to be a big ask.
Going full strength in the FA Cup final was worth it
Guardiola could have looked to lighten City’s load by prioritising the Premier League while treating the FA Cup as a secondary objective.
Had he done this, perhaps Man City would have beaten Bournemouth. However, Arsenal would still be top of the league with only one match remaining.
There would be no guarantee of a Premier League title, and so binning off the FA Cup would have been a terrible decision.
In the end, City have come away from a season of transitions with two trophies, which is not bad going at all.
There will be plenty to celebrate on Monday, and then it is a case of coming back for pre-season with renewed ambitions of an even stronger campaign next time around.
