Guardiola reveals he argued with Mahrez and Grealish because they failed to follow defensive instructions.
Pep Guardiola has revealed that he publicly argued with Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish during their 6-3 win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday because they did not do their defensive jobs.
Manchester City won RB Leipzig in their first Champions League group stage game on Wednesday. Still, Guardiola was not happy with the defensive contributions of some of his players and was seen confronting goalscorers Mahrez and Grealish over their tactical games.
The Manchester City boss was caught on camera lashing out at the duo despite both players having a good game and scoring two goals between them.
The former Barca coach revealed he confronted both players because they did not do what he asked of them during the half-time team talk.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Guardiola said:
‘We spoke in half-time about the way we have to do it, and they didn’t do it. Fights happen.
“They are so good. They make four players in the build-up to attract you behind the holding midfielders where there aren’t a lot of players, where the ball goes outside, and they are so fast when they attack in behind.
“It’s not easy to control it, but when you regain that ball, there are many players in front of the ball and the transition to make one or two passes in behind, you have a chance to attack.”
Grealish, who also assisted a goal in the match, told BT Sport when asked about the discussion revealed that his manager wants his team to defend
“That was just defensive work. I won’t go too much into it because he might want the same tactics at the weekend.” Grealish said.
“That’s what the manager is like, he’s always wanting more defensively and offensively, and he’s obviously someone that I’m going to listen to after everything he’s done in the game. He’s just giving out useful information.”
