The series of four consecutive victories of City in the Premier League was interrupted by the saints, relegated last month and displaying the worst total of points in the history of the championship.
But temporary coach Simon Rusk has developed an ultra-defensive tactical plan, to which City did not react. Guardiola admitted to having been surprised by the opposing game plan.
Guardiola admitted to having been surprised by the Plan d'A game des Saints.
Guardiola told BBC Radio Manchester: ” We cannot control the opponent's decisions, we must accept it. They want to do like that, being relegated, so what about? I did not expect it, and after 10 or 15 minutes, I said that we needed wingers for this match, because we could not expect that we were playing. And that's how it is. »»
Pep confessing
Guardiola had aligned a 4-2-3-1 with James Mcatee and Phil Foden as offensive environments, but they failed to bypass the prudent Southampton configuration, which prompted the coach to replace McATEE at halftime and to bring the winger Jeremy Doku. This allowed City to achieve better performance in the second period, even if they had to settle for a draw, jeopardizing their quest for a place in the top 5 to ensure their qualification in the Champions League.
City has become the fourth team only not to win in St Mary's this season, with Everton, Ipswich and Crystal Palace. This draw allowed Southampton to go to 12 points and allowed Derby County to stay the team with the worst total of points in the history of the Premier League, with only 11 points in the 2007-2008 season.
