“He over-Pepped it” Pep Guardiola blasted for disrespecting Liverpool 

“He over-Pepped it” Pep Guardiola blasted for disrespecting Liverpool 

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, has been chastised for disrespecting Liverpool with his team selection for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final.

Guardiola made seven substitutions from the starting lineup that held Atletico Madrid to a goalless draw last Wednesday, securing their spot in the Champions League semi-finals.

But it was a disastrous decision for the Spaniard, as the Reds went three goals ahead before halftime.

Jurgen Klopp’s team dominated the first 45 minutes and took the lead thanks to Ibrahima Konate’s header.

The Reds then took advantage of a terrible error by City goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who was picked to start instead of regular first-choice Ederson, to extend their lead through Sadio Mane.

Mane then scored a stunning volley at the conclusion of the first half to put Klopp’s side in complete control before the interval.

City fought back with goals from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva to get back into the game, but they were unable to score an equalizer.

Guardiola and his team selection have been singled out for the blame for City’s demise.

Former Tottenham star Jamie O’Hara accused Guardiola of disrespecting Liverpool by making so many changes while his team was in the midst of a run of critical Premier League and Champions League games.

“It was a typical Pep Guardiola situation, where I feel like he’s ‘over-Pepped it’ again. Just play Ederson. I don’t know why you’re not playing Ederson. You need to be at completely full strength to get a result against Liverpool,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.

“The only team in the world that I can I look at and go, ‘You can beat Liverpool’, is Man City when they’re at full strength. But they had no Kyle Walker and no Kevin De Bruyne. They had a really tough midweek clash against Atletico Madrid, which would have taken a lot out of them, travelling and all that sort of nonsense.

“I don’t think they even went back to Manchester, I think they flew straight to London. And then you go into that game and Liverpool came flying out the blocks. They rested players against Benfica, so they were at full strength.

“And you’re playing Steffen in goal?! It’s almost like you’re disrespecting Liverpool, in the sense that you think you can turn up in an FA Cup semi-final and play your second-string goalkeeper against the best team in the world right now. Come on, how many times do you want to do this?”

After that setback at Wembley, City is now only battling on two fronts: the Premier League and the Champions League.

They are just a point ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League table with seven games remaining, beginning with the visit of Brighton on Wednesday.

On Saturday, they host Watford before the opening leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

It remains to be seen whether Guardiola will continue to rotate his team selection in the remaining month of the season, but Saturday’s setback was certainly a direct outcome of that philosophy.

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“He over-Pepped it” Pep Guardiola blasted for disrespecting Liverpool