Olaleye Idowu
Former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville, has claimed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola got his team selection wrong against Arsenal.
Neville, speaking on Sky Sports, admitted it contributed to City’s second-half collapse in the humbling 5-1 defeat.
The Premier League champions were level in the game just after half-time, as Erling Haaland cancelled out Martin Odegaard’s early opener.
But goals from Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri saw City concede four or more goals for the fourth time this season. It is the most ever in a Guardiola campaign.
With Rodri, Ederson and Ruben Dias out injured, Guardiola opted to leave Kevin De Bruyne on the bench.
Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva started in midfield, while Phil Foden and Savinho flanked Haaland in attack.
“If this was another manager would be sat there saying: are you sure Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic will work against Arsenal, who’ve got Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey? They’re energetic and have real quality and power.
“I think to give them a chance, maybe you pack that midfield with three or four players in there and maybe it’s numbers – and then to add to that.
“So I just thought maybe today Pep Guardiola got his team selection wrong,” Neville told the Gary Neville Podcast.
“But he played Phil Foden out on the wide right, Savinho on the left, who I thought blocked Josko Gvardiol going forward the whole game, and Omar Marmoush, who I thought did well playing from off the left side last week against Chelsea, making those runs in a position off Erling Haaland where there was no space.
