Ian Wright has been left gobsmacked by what Pep Guardiola has done recently.
The Manchester City boss has been a manager full of surprises since his time at Barcelona.
On Sunday, Guardiola’s defensive tactics against Arsenal surprised fans and pundits alike.
Pep Guardiola played a 5-4-1 setup against Arsenal and his City side almost kept the Gunners at bay before Gabriel Martinelli’s late goal meant the two sides had to share the spoils.
Ian Wright had his say on the Catalan’s tactics.
Ian Wright says he has never seen Pep Guardiola play a 5-4-1 system like he did vs Arsenal
However, Pep Guardiola has adjusted his style of play throughout his career, going as far as to say play four centre-backs during Manchester City’s treble-winning season.
Manchester City’s back five surprised Declan Rice as the midfielder admitted he has never seen them set up in such a manner.
Rice said: “And seeing the end, they changed to a back five, went to five, which I’ve never seen them do, and they’re obviously trying to hang on, so obviously to get them with a draw at the end was good for us.”
Speaking to Premier League Productions, Ian Wright echoed the same sentiments about Pep Guardiola’s change of system, saying: “You’re looking here at a City team that has come to defend. When have you ever seen that? You have never seen that before, 5-4-1. I don’t know if it’s because they’ve played so many teams with the same team.”
Pep Guardiola revealed why he played a back five against Arsenal
However, in his latest press conference, Pep Guardiola responded to question marks about his style of play against Arsenal by simply admitting that Manchester City were the inferior side on the day.
Guardiola said via BeanymanSports: “I said after the game, Arsenal were better. I don’t like to play in the way we played Arsenal but there are a lot of things, I love it.”
“Sometimes, the opponents are good and create the challenges and you cannot handle it. When I retire, I would love to play the way I want to play but sometimes, we cannot, sometimes, the opponent is better.”
In essence, Guardiola believes Arsenal forced Manchester City to defend deep and as a result, he ended up playing a back five to further solidify his defence; clearing up Ian Wright’s questions.
