After Manchester City lost 3-2 to Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final, the media and fans fell out.
Put together, there are no more than two categories: praising Klopp and questioning Guardiola. It is no wonder that the football field has always been a king and a loser, although the four words of defeat and glory are the most untested by time.
With this victory, Klopp rewrote his record with Guardiola to 10 wins, 5 draws and 9 losses, becoming the first manager in football today to win 10 against Guardiola and have a record of dominance. At the same time, the victory also shattered Manchester City's dream of a treble this season, while Liverpool continued to make great strides towards an unprecedented four-time victory.
Klopp and Liverpool have once again become the headlines of major football media pages, and the four champions have also become a hot topic of discussion among fans. Of course, all this is beyond reproach, after all, Liverpool's performance this season has been too good.
And the failed Guardiola naturally became the target of criticism by the media and fans after the game.
Guardiola rotated 7 people in the game, including the goalkeeper, and the major mistake of substitute goalkeeper Steffen in the game became the root cause of City's defeat, which also became Guardiola's "handle". As we all know, Guardiola pursues perfection, likes to win by surprise, and the key games always can't help but have the desire to live in the depths of their hearts. Even in such an important game as the Champions League final, Guardiola can play a strange and strange formation of "no front and no waist", not to mention the FA Cup?
But this time, people are really wrong to blame Guardiola.
Judging from the number of people rotating in the FA Cup semi-finals, it is a last resort. After a series of bitter battles, Manchester City is already full of injuries, De Bruyne, Ruben Diaz, Walker three cores can not play due to injury, Rodri, Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Foden and other main forces are tired, the Premier League and the Champions League have entered the decisive moment, Guardiola must ensure the physical health and competitive state of the main players.
So, Guardiola has to make trade-offs. The Importance of the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup is obvious, and the FA Cup has naturally become an object that can be "sacrificed". But why did Guardiola start bench goalkeeper Steffen? Could it be a whim in his head?
After the game, Guardiola explained why he let Steffen start – without him, just a promise. Previously, as a substitute for Ederson, Steffen had been starting in the FA Cup and League Cup, and his performances won the trust of his teammates and the right to continue to start for himself. Guardiola did not break his promise because his opponent was strong, which was awe-inspiring.
It's reminiscent of Jose Mourinho's first season at the helm of Manchester United – one in which United started Premier League goalkeeper De Gea and cup starter Romero. In the League Cup and Europa League finals, Mourinho did not use De Gea to replace Romero, which is admirable.
As for Steffen's low-level mistakes that led to the team's defeat, Guardiola only downplayed that it was just an accident, and said that Ederson had a similar situation in the last game.
It can be seen that this time it is really wrong to blame Guardiola.
Player injuries and tough fixtures, as well as pressure from opponents, forced him to make adjustments, he lost to Klopp, but the ones who appeared at Wembley Stadium were by no means The strongest squad for Manchester City. Facing the strongest squad from Klopp, Guardiola almost performed a miracle in the second half after adjusting in the first half. This defeat cannot yet determine the success or failure of Manchester City's season.
Now, City have two titles left to compete for, as long as the Premier League holds the advantage of one point, the Champions League semi-finals pass real Madrid, Guardiola has the opportunity to write a new legend.