Micah Richards has claimed he has never seen Pep Guardiola sit and have a chat with a player after substituting them as he did with Kevin De Bruyne against Liverpool.
Usually, when Guardiola or most managers take off a player, they are either too invested in the game or disappointed with their performance to be in the mood to talk to them right after.
But after Kevin De Bruyne looked enraged after his substitution, which Roy Keane backed as the “right decision” from the Catalan, he went on to accompany the midfield maestro to the bench and have a chat with him.
Micah Richards says he has never seen Pep Guardiola console a player after substituting them as he did with Kevin De Bruyne
After City’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool, Guardiola admitted that he liked the fact that the Belgian captain was seemingly furious while adding that the player was “happy” in the aftermath of the clash.
Often, the Spaniard tends to keep De Bruyne on even on his off days as he can create something out of nothing and turn a game on its head, such as against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final when he scored a screamer of an equaliser.
As Pep Guardiola consoled Kevin De Bruyne on the bench against Liverpool, Micah Richards admitted that he had never seen him do so with any player after substituting them in the past.
“I’ve never seen that before. Pep [Guardiola] normally just leaves them, doesn’t he? It shows how important Kevin De Bruyne is to his team”, he said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“I’ve never seen him do that, ever with any player. There were a couple of incidents where [Sergio] Aguero got subbed and Aguero wasn’t happy, I didn’t see him go over to Aguero, it just shows how important he thinks Kevin De Bruyne is to his team.”
Pep Guardiola made a wise decision during the Liverpool clash
Micah Richards has made an interesting observation as Pep Guardiola does tend to let players, even if they are of the calibre of Kevin De Bruyne sulk when they have been substituted.
However, considering De Bruyne’s reaction was quite uncharacteristic and considering how much of a leader he is at City, perhaps Guardiola felt it was right to allow him to express himself at that moment.
In any dressing room, it is imperative to keep the big names happy and Pep Guardiola decided to do the same by de-escalating the situation rather than having a heated argument with Kevin De Bruyne.
Considering all that De Bruyne has achieved at City and how professional he tends to be, it was fair to let him air out his grievances.
