Pep Guardiola often confuses Man City fans at times when his team is under pressure or stuck but still does not make substitutions. The Spanish strategist has certain conservative points but over the years, he has still achieved great success. Gradually, such actions have become considered a standard for Pep and are sometimes considered a measure of each coach's tactical ability.
"It's a new version of me. Before, I was criticized a lot because sometimes I didn't use any of the five available substitutions. Now, I only like to make changes at half-time. In the next match against Arsenal on Sunday, maybe I will continue like that" - Pep Guardiola shared after the draw with Inter in the Champions League.
In last week's Premier League clash with Brentford, Pep brought on Josko Gvardiol and Rodri to replace Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic. The Citizens boss's aim was to stop Brentford's threat with long balls and duels. Thomas Frank himself admitted after the match that it was Pep Guardiola's way of giving Man City more strength.
Against Inter in the Champions League, Pep also made two substitutions after the break. Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan came on to replace Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho. De Bruyne suffered an injury of unknown severity. Meanwhile, Savinho's fitness may not be guaranteed as the Brazilian star was also withdrawn in the final minutes of the match against Brentford last weekend.
"The reason I changed De Bruyne was not necessarily because he had a slight injury. When facing a 5-3-2, when the ball is in one half of the pitch, Man City can be facing five Inter players surrounding it. We couldn't create a link with Rodri so we needed players who can operate in a small space. Lewis, Foden and Gundogan are very suitable for that.
"When I looked at the way Inter defended, after about 35-40 minutes of the first half, I thought it was time for a change. After what happened to De Bruyne, the doctor said he wasn't ready to play anymore, so I also took him off at the end of the first half," Pep shared.
When asked whether he would like to use a fixed formation for each match, Pep said he would consider it, as long as efficiency is the priority.
"Sometimes I like to use weapons on the bench. Man City need to break Inter's 5-3-2 structure. Mehdi Taremi and Lautaro Martinez always make Rodri work hard. They don't allow us to find spaces like in many other matches. That's why I need many players with different roles to appear" - Pep shared.
That's also the reason why sometimes Pep doesn't want to make a substitution, even though basically everyone watching the match wants it. Sometimes Pep is willing to accept the development of the match, even when it's not when Man City is at their best.
The clearest evidence is the 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace in March 2022, when the title race with Liverpool was very tense. Man City needed to win to be sure but appeared to be stuck. Pep Guardiola absolutely did not make any substitutions and thought that the match was okay because at least the risk of conceding a goal was almost zero.
A year later, in a 1-1 draw with Leipzig in the Champions League, Pep still did not make a substitution despite the fact that Man City were under a lot of pressure from their opponents. The Spaniard believed that bringing on players from the bench at that time would only make the club's counter-attacking game worse.
Man City's upcoming opponents can look at what Inter did to apply. It is also a challenge for Pep to be more flexible in changing players so that The Citizens are always a team of change, from which it is not easy to break the playing style.
