Coach Pep Guardiola: 'Man City was sluggish and uninspiring'

Coach Pep Guardiola showed clear disappointment with Manchester City's display, even though they progressed against Salford City into the FA Cup fifth round.

Pep Guardiola could not hide his frustration even though Manchester City secured a place in the FA Cup 5th round after a 2-0 victory over Salford City.

In this match, Man City took the lead thanks to an own goal by Alfie Dorrington in the first half, before Marc Guehi scored the club’s first goal to seal the 2-0 result. However, the Spaniard coach was not pleased with the team's on-field performance.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola candidly admitted: “The only good news is that we progressed, that’s all. Everything was flat, slow, and uninspiring.” He believed his players performed poorly in attack, especially in exploiting the spaces in front of the opponent’s defense.

The Man City manager emphasized that the team “failed to read the spaces as they should,” and also took some responsibility himself: “Maybe I didn’t communicate clearly enough what the team needed to do to play more fluidly and flexibly.”

Pep Guardiola further analyzed that Salford City defended very tightly, causing the match to be deadlocked until Man City scored their second goal: “You can win 1-0 and play excellently, but sometimes you win 3-0 and the game still isn’t good. That was the case this time,” he said.

Guardiola also mentioned the intense schedule recently, with Man City playing continuously since November. According to him, the last three weeks were particularly demanding, and this match closed that tough period, giving the team a valuable short break.

Besides the sporting aspect, the 53-year-old coach expressed confusion over some cup competition rules, suggesting that their “fairness” is sometimes questionable, although he still accepts the current regulations.