Pep Guardiola expressed his disappointment at the lack of respect shown to him at Anfield during Manchester City's loss to Liverpool, where he was taunted with chants about being sacked. The chants prompted goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to comment that Liverpool is "not the best part in the UK." Guardiola responded to the chants by holding up six fingers to the crowd, symbolizing each of the six Premier League titles he has won with City. Liverpool's 2-0 victory extended their lead over City to 11 points, marking City's sixth defeat in a seven-game winless streak, the worst run in Guardiola's managerial career.
Despite the poor performance, Guardiola felt he deserved better treatment from Liverpool due to their intense rivalry in recent seasons. Ortega backed his manager's reaction, stating, "Someone told me before that this area is probably not the best part in the UK. I think he reacted really well." Guardiola said, "I'm so proud of my six Premier Leagues against that [Liverpool] team and the previous team [under Jürgen Klopp]. I didn't expect Anfield to start chanting at 0-2 that I would be sacked. Maybe I deserved to be sacked with our results! Maybe I'm still in the job because I won six Premier Leagues and a lot of titles."
Guardiola defended his team's performance, arguing that his players did not give up despite creating little. He said, "I have the feeling that from here we can start to build something." He added, "Call me delusional but I have the feeling that from here we will start to build back to winning games and confidence. Our target cannot be talking about titles in November or December." Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said he has no sympathy for Guardiola's situation, believing City will recover to challenge for a fifth consecutive Premier League title.
Slot described Liverpool's victories over City and Real Madrid as a statement from the title favorites. He said, "Yes it was [a statement]. Playing against Real Madrid, playing against Man City, teams that have been and are so good and with managers that have won so many trophies, it is always nice to come out in both situations as a winner." Slot acknowledged that while these wins are significant, they are not enough to guarantee success at the end of the season.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com