Jermaine Pennant has said that he does think Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola takes the Carabao Cup too seriously.
After City’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday, the controversial pundit made this claim on talkSPORT.
Despite being the joint-most successful manager in Carabao Cup history, Pep Guardiola perhaps does not prioritise the competition according to Jermaine Pennant.
Jermaine Pennant says Pep Guardiola does not take the Carabao Cup seriously after Manchester City lose to Newcastle
Branded as ‘unbelievable’ by Owen Hargreaves (via Manchester Evening News), the Spanish tactician fielded a rotated side against the Magpies.
Described as a ‘top player’ by Joachim Andersen, Erling Haaland was not even brought off the bench against Eddie Howe’s side despite the visitors trailing at St. James’ Park.
It is due to this decision that Jermaine Pennant firmly believes that the Carabao Cup is not a priority for Pep Guardiola.
“I think Pep…does he take this competition seriously? In my eyes, no. You’re 1-0 down after 60, 70 minutes and you still got the most prolific goalscorer the Premier League’s probably seen or I’ve seen, apart from Alan Shearer and he doesn’t bring him on”, he said.
“That to me is like, ‘I’m not really bothered about this competition too much. ‘Otherwise, I’d be bringing on the big, big guns’ you see the other Premier League teams do.”
Pep Guardiola had to play it safe due to the injury pile-up at Manchester City
Jermaine Pennant could well be proven right by Pep Guardiola as he said ahead of his side’s showdown against Newcastle that he had no intention of fielding a strong team (via the Mirror).
But the only reason behind this was due to the injury pile-up on his hands.
While Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic returned from their respective knocks against the Magpies, they have been injured only recently.
Apart from the Manchester City duo, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Bernardo Silva are still nursing injuries.
With Rodri also suspended for the time being, one can understand Guardiola’s hesitation as his side will intend to compete for the treble once again.
