Micah Richards has said today that he noticed something that Kevin De Bruyne did that may have irked Pep Guardiola, just before the Manchester City manager took him off against Liverpool.
City and the Reds played out a pulsating 1-1 draw on Sunday at Anfield.
John Stones opened the scoring, before Alexis Mac Allister equalised in the second-half from the penalty spot after Ederson fouled Darwin Nunez in the area.
City had some decent chances to win the game through Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku, while Nunes and Luis Diaz gave Stefan Ortega – on for the injured Ederson – some work to do.
One of the most surprising parts of the game was when Pep Guardiola took Kevin De Bruyne off as part of a double change on 69 minutes.
It was a decision that Roy Keane backed, but the Belgian is City’s talisman so there was a lot of surprise.
Today, Micah Richards has shared something he noticed just before the substitution happened…
Micah Richards noticed one action from Kevin De Bruyne before his substitution against Liverpool
The sight of De Bruyne going off against Liverpool was initially quite surprising.
But after the game, Guardiola talked about his desire to wrestle back control in the match using Mateo Kovacic.
Despite assisting Stones for the City goal, De Bruyne had not been particularly impactful, and so the manager felt it was the right call to make at that time.
Richards was speaking about that decision today on The Rest Is Football podcast, and the former full-back shared something he noticed that TV cameras did not pick up.
He said: “I don’t think you saw it on the TV but, there was an action before he actually brought him off where the press didn’t go the way it was planned and City gave away the ball.
“Kevin threw his hands up and then Pep was like ‘Ooooooh’, and when you do that to Pep… yeah, I think he’s going to make a statement.”
Reasons for De Bruyne substitution are clear
It is unlikely that an on-field reaction from De Bruyne played any part in him being substituted at Liverpool.
Ultimately Pep obviously knows how incredible the Belgian is. But like he said after the game, he was just looking for more control, with Liverpool in the ascendency.
De Bruyne is a player who takes risks with the ball, and sometimes that can lead to transitions for the opposition. It is very dangerous to concede transitions at Anfield.
While initially surprising, taking De Bruyne off and putting Kovacic on was a wise move and the Croatian did a good job at protecting and carrying the ball.
