Gary Neville has claimed that Pep Guardiola made a big mistake in the recent FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United.
After winning their fourth Premier League title in a row, the Citizens were denied the chance to win a consecutive domestic double by losing 2-1 to the Red Devils in last weekend’s FA Cup final.
The Blues found themselves 2-0 down at halftime and only managed to get a single consolation goal in the second period.
Now that the season has ended for the Premier League champions, one pundit and former United star has made a claim about one thing the City boss got wrong in last weekend’s clash at Wembley Stadium.
Neville says Guardiola made a big error in FA Cup final
In the latest newsletter from The Overlap, Neville had this to say about how both managers set their sides up for the final.
He said: “He got it spot on on Saturday: that midfield box of Kobbie Mainoo, Sofyan Amrabat, Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes, was superb, so hard to play through.
“Of course, it also helped massively that Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane were back.
“There has been a hint in the past few weeks that City struggle against that system, when the middle of the pitch is crowded. Real Madrid, Arsenal and, to an extent, Tottenham (even though they lost) have managed to frustrate them.
“That said, there’s no doubt in my mind Guardiola got it wrong on Saturday with his initial lineup.
“Selecting Mateo Kovacic was a backward step that allowed United a foothold in the game. Only when Jeremy Doku came on did you see them stretch United and that duel with Aaron Wan-Bissaka was superb in the second half.”
Should Guardiola have started Doku against United?
After Doku completed the full 90 minutes in City’s 3-1 title-winning victory over West Ham United on the final day of the Premier League season, the winger found himself out of the starting XI for the FA Cup final and came on in the second half.
In the West Ham game, the Belgian made three key, had two shots on target and successfully completed five of the 10 dribbles he attempted.
During the second half against United, the 22-year-old not only scored City’s only goal of the game but also made two key passes and completed three of his five dribbles.
Bearing in mind how Kovacic failed to make even one key pass or have an attempt at goal in the first half, it’s safe to say that Doku had much more of an impact on the game than the Croatian did.
With all of that in mind, it’s easy to see why Neville thinks Guardiola made a mistake by not keeping the winger in City’s starting XI on this occasion.