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What Went Wrong For Manchester City At Spurs

By Dan Larsen

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 06: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City reacts during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium on April 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 06: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City reacts during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium on April 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City’s team selection in previous games left them a bit short-handed on Tuesday night.

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 09: The Manchester City team line up prior to the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 09, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 09: The Manchester City team line up prior to the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 09, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /

Before the game even kicked off, many fans were nervous or upset with the Manchester City side Pep Guardiola put out on Tuesday night.

Guardiola fielded a side that was, on paper, weaker than the team he fielded in the semi-final of the FA Cup just three days prior.

Though some of those who were unavailable, like Oleksandr Zinchenko, were not available for reasons out of Guardiola’s control, his management of the team in the preceding games left his hands tied in terms of who was available to start too.

Kevin De Bruyne, who had started the previous three games, began yesterday’s game on the bench. Though Guardiola claimed he was a reserve for tactical reasons, it’s unlikely that De Bruyne would have been able to start anyway given that he was just four games back from an injury, and he had looked a bit fatigued against Brighton on the weekend.

Bernardo Silva, who had played a full 90 on the weekend and at Fulham the week prior, picked up an unexpected injury that took him out of the line-up right before kick-off. It’s not a surprise that Bernardo picked up an injury. He’s played more minutes this season than anyone in the team outside of Ayermic Laporte and Ederson.

Benjamin Mendy, who had just returned on to the squad on Saturday after several months out, wasn’t even in the match-day 18 on Tuesday. Because he had played nearly a full 90 on the weekend, he wasn’t available to play, even as a reserve. This left the manager without a clear cut option at left back given that the two other full-back options, Zinchenko and Danilo, were unavailable because of injury.

These decisions left Guardiola with a very limited number of options to choose from. It set the stage for some players being selected who didn’t inspire confidence.

Several selections and performances are worth noting.