Pep Guardiola has been branded 'arrogant' by former England boss Fabio Capello, who has criticized him for his treatment of Manchester City's players amid their poor form.
City were defeated again on Wednesday evening when the team lost 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League. The Spaniard admitted he had self-doubt after failing to halt his side's slump.
Guardiola's men, who won this competition in 2023, are now 22nd in the Champions League standings and are at risk of an early exit from the tournament after taking eight points from their opening six games.
City have now lost seven of their last 10 games in all competitions and are in the midst of a crisis after being hit hard by injuries. They are also eight points behind title rivals Liverpool in the Premier League.
Capello, who won the Champions League with AC Milan in 1994 and was in charge of England for five years between 2007 and 2012, pointed the finger at Guardiola and said he was “too arrogant”.
The Italian accused Guardiola of trying to 'take the spotlight' from his players after seeing Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie score for Juventus, leaving City with another painful defeat.
“Guardiola is a great coach, but he is far too arrogant and overbearing,” he told Sky Sports Italy. “Sometimes he even lost trophies because he wanted to prove that he was the one winning and not the players, so he dropped key players from the side in the big games. That was an attempt to take victory in my opinion.” spotlight and honor away from his team.”
Fellow pundit Paulo Di Canio – once of West Ham – chose to focus his attention on goalkeeper Ederson and also used the word 'arrogant' to describe his recent performances after coming under fire for some high-profile mistakes.
“Ederson has talent but he is so arrogant that he makes these mistakes out of sheer overconfidence and trying to show off, like tapping his heels when he is under pressure,” Di Canio said.
Guardiola's words were damning after the match as he admitted he was doubting himself amid City's torrid run of results. He said: “Of course [I am questioning myself]. I have my thoughts. I am stable in good and bad moments. I'm trying to find a way to do it. I am incredibly honest. When we play well, we play well.
“The dressing room is stable. When we win we are happy, when we lose we are not. What can we do? Feel sorry for ourselves. No, we will improve and move on. We have been in this situation many times this month. Recovery tomorrow, prepare yourself ahead of United with our people, push for the good things we are doing and try to be better.”
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