Manchester City were devoid without Pep Guardiola on Wednesday night as his deputy branded them ‘not good enough’ after a shock defeat by Lyon.
The suspended Guardiola watched from the stands as his side got off to the worst possible start in the Champions League under Mikel Arteta.
Goals by Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir leave City bottom of Group F but Arteta refused to make excuses.
At this level, it's not good enough,’ Arteta said. ‘We lost many duels and you pay the price. We gave the ball away in the build-up in difficult circumstances and they took advantage. We were not consistent.
‘It was (surprising) but they're not perfect. Sometimes they have good days and sometimes bad days. Sometimes they are silk and sometimes they are not. We felt under threat every time we lost the ball.
‘I won't judge the players just because we lost. You have to judge many other things during the game and they know that already.’
Arteta also shot back at suggestions City failed because of Guardiola’s absence: ‘I have no idea. That's something hypothetical.
‘The reality is that Pep wasn't here and we lost the game. I have no idea if we’d win the game 5-0 if he was.
‘I wouldn’t like to use the (small) crowd as an excuse. We had this type of crowd before and played well. I’d like it full and everyone supporting the team like crazy. It didn’t happen but it isn’t an excuse.’
No comments:
Post a Comment