PEP GUARDIOLA may face a Premier League fine after leaving the media hanging for 45 minutes following Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat by Tottenham.
The Manchester Evening News claims that the Spaniard’s lateness meant that home manager Jose Mourinho had already finished his post-match press conference by the time he emerged.
Pep Guardiola kept his Manchester City players in the away dressing room after defeat at SpursCredit: EPA
A debut goal from Steven Bergwijn followed by a strike from Son Heung-min condemned Guardiola’s side to their sixth league defeat of the season.
Pep’s frustration was compounded by City’s domination in the game, which saw them miss a penalty in the first half before the tide turned in the second following Oleksandr Zinchenko’s red card.
The former Barcelona boss responded by locking his players in the away changing room for three-quarters of an hour after the final whistle before emerging to face the press.
But when Guardiola eventually emerged to face the Sky Sports cameras, he insisted the delay was not because he was criticising his stars.
He said: “Never. With this performance? How should I be critical after this performance?
“I was talking to my staff and my wife. After this performance it would be an incredible mistake to say how bad they are. We created chances and conceded few.”
He later told reporters in a press conference when asked what he said: “How proud I am of them, but it’s not enough. I like to see my players playing that way.
“Never when we lose do I stay away from my players because I know them.
“We lost the game so we talked about how to move forward and keep going. There’s a lot of months to play and try to do it.
“If I would find the solution I would try to work on that. It would be a mistake not to let them feel incredible and fantastic after that game, football is sometimes like this.”
Pep Guardiola doesn’t appear from dressing room for 45 minutes but claims Manchester City ‘played well’ in defeat at Tottenham
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
