Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted he “suffered” through his side’s defensive showing in Sunday’s draw with Arsenal, but insisted it was necessary after a challenging week.
City are still under pressure after the poor form from their disappointing 2024–25 campaign bled over into the start of the current season. Consecutive defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion had Guardiola back in the spotlight before recent wins over Manchester United and Napoli helped ease the pressure.
Aware his side are not firing on all cylinders, Guardiola went for a defence-first approach to Sunday’s game. Erling Haaland’s early strike put City ahead before the team dropped back in a bid to frustrate Arsenal, which worked flawlessly before Gabriel Martinelli’s equaliser deep into added time.
City ended the game with just 32.8% possession, their lowest-ever return under Guardiola, as they pivoted to a 5-4-1 formation which even saw Haaland sacrificed for defensive midfielder Nico González.
“It’s the body language—how we celebrate, how we communicate, how we make an effort,” Guardiola said when challenged on his setup after the game. “We lost it a lot last season.
“I said, ‘I don’t give a f--- about the results, I want to see the spirit back in the training sessions and us enjoying it’. We had to recover it. This week we have recovered. We have to continue.
“I suffered. I don’t like it, I want the ball far away [from goal]. But once in 10 years is OK, right? Our resilience was fantastic, otherwise we cannot survive.”
The tactical shift came as a surprise to Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, who admitted: “Seeing the end, they changed to a back five, went to five, which I’ve never seen them do, and they’re obviously trying to hang on, so obviously to get them with a draw at the end was good for us.”
While Guardiola argued he had no plans to turn City into a counter-attacking team, he insisted this is not the first time he has prioritised transition over possession, particularly during a difficult period for his team.
“We try not to be like this but when the opponent is better and we have Erling who can run with such power, we have to do this,” he stressed. “Remember how many counter attacks we scored with Leroy [Sané], Raheem [Sterling] and Kevin [De Bruyne]? I would prefer not to do it but I would expect in this level we have to do it.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pep Guardiola Issues ’Don’t Give a F---‘ Response to Surprise Tactics.