Manchester City coach, Josep Guardiola, blamed two of his players, namely Ruben Dias and Mateo Kovacic, in the 1-2 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 2023-2024 Premier League match, on Saturday 30 September 2023. According to Guardiola, Kovacic and Dias failed to play as well as he wanted in that match.
As a result, the match which took place at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, did not go according to Guardiola’s expectations. The Spanish coach firmly criticised Dias and Kovacic after the match.
According to Guardiola, the two Man City players are considered to be a crucial reason for Man City’s performance in suffering their first defeat in the Premier League this season. Guardiola assessed that Dias and Kovacic did not follow the coach’s instructions properly.
Dias and Kovacic get a lot of blame. Guardiola regretted that the performance of his two players was not optimal following Lillo’s instructions.
“We didn’t do our process correctly to attack more smoothly and that’s why we had a little difficulty in transition,” explained Guardiola, quoted from Dailymail, Sunday (1/10/2023).
“When the opponent defends well, Kovacic or Ruben should attack the opponent’s centre-backs – and we didn’t do that. That’s why it’s more difficult,” he continued.
In that match, Guardiola did not play directly. His role was temporarily replaced by his assistant, Juan Manuel Lillo.
Guardiola reportedly received a suspension due to the accumulation of cards he received. He received a third yellow card when accompanying Man City against Newcastle United in the 2023-2024 English League Cup. At that time The Citizens lost 0-1 to Newcastle. These results made Man City’s match record worse.
Guardiola finally could only watch the Man City vs Wolves match in the stands. However, he still observed his team’s shortcomings during the match.
