Pep Guardiola response to Kevin De Bruyne fury after Man City changes

Pep Guardiola response to Kevin De Bruyne fury after Man City changes

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about taking Kevin De Bruyne off against Liverpool with the game in the balance

Pep Guardiola the manager of Manchester City looks on after substituting Julian Alvarez and Kevin De Bruyne during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and City

Kevin De Bruyne was replaced in the second half against Liverpool

Pep Guardiola said that Kevin De Bruyne was happy after the game as he explained the thinking behind the substitutions that he believed saved Manchester City a point against Liverpool.

 

 

City took the lead at Anfield but gave away a cheap penalty in the second half and were under serious pressure when Guardiola made a double substitution to replace Kevin De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez with Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic. De Bruyne in particular was furious to come off and exchanged words with Guardiola and his coaches on the touchline before the manager later went over to have another chat with him.

 

Nonetheless, the Blues improved with the changes with Kovacic enabling City to give them more control in midfield and Doku offering more of an outlet on the left. However much Guardiola likes the mentality from De Bruyne, he will not hesitate to take him off if he thinks it is the best decision for the team.

 

“Now he’s happy. No problem,” said Guardiola. “I like it. If he’s upset, it’s good.

 

 

“I made the decision because I knew what we were missing and we missed keeping the ball and we could not have it with him and [Bernardo Silva] and John [Stones], and after we did it better. What can I say for Kevin? We need it and we need him and it’s really important.

 

“It’s a difficult place to come and he tried and in the first half he was incredibly involved in all the transitions and the shots and the corner. We know it. The moment I had in the second half after conceding the goal the game was not in our hands and I wanted to make something that could give the game back to us a little bit. This was the idea, no more than that.”