As Manchester City succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to AFC Bournemouth, Pep Guardiola acknowledged that the better team won on the day.
Guardiola admitted Manchester City “could not handle” Bournemouth’s intensity in the aftermath of the contest.
Ederson Moraes made four hugely important saves to keep Manchester City in the contest for much of the game.
Josko Gvardiol matched Nicolas Jackson’s tally of away goals in the Premier League (six) in 2024 and yet, his powerful header was deemed inconsequential after the final whistle was blown.
Pep Guardiola hailed Nathan Ake for choosing to start against Bournemouth despite suffering with a foot problem.
In the aftermath of the contest, Guardiola admitted [via journalist Mike Minay] that Kyle Walker had not even trained before he was thrown into the starting line-up against the Cherries.
Pep Guardiola made a mistake by starting unfit Kyle Walker in Man City vs Bournemouth
Walker was returning from a recent injury to make a surprise start at the Vitality Stadium, despite not being fully fit as per Pep Guardiola’s admission.
Recently, the Catalan boss claimed Rico Lewis will continue to start every game until the veteran is fit, stating via HaytersTV: “Rico [Lewis] is the only player we cannot rest. We would like to rest but we cannot do it.”
Yet, Pep Guardiola decided to start the 34-year-old and rest Lewis on Saturday.
Manchester City slated Walker’s display against Andoni Iraola’s side as he had one of his toughest evenings this season.
Antoine Semenyo had a field day playing against the Manchester City right-back, as he opened the scoring with a terrific finish and bypassed the seasoned customer on various instances.
Walker’s statistics paint a picture of how poor he was against Bournemouth and in particularly, how much he struggled up against Semenyo.
| KYLE WALKER STATS VS BOURNEMOUTH | |
| GROUND DUELS WON | 3/9 |
| AERIAL DUELS WON | 1/4 |
| DRIBBLED PAST | 3 |
| TACKLES WON | 1/50 |
| FOULS COMMITTED | 2 |
The Ghanaian speedster has been one of the best wingers in the Premier League this season, with four goals and an assist to his name so far.
As a result, Pep Guardiola’s decision to start a defender who had not even trained ahead of the contest must come under scrutinity.
Considering Guardiola’s recent claim about Lewis being an indispensable starter for the time being, he could have played him from the start once again.
With Manuel Akanji starting against Bournemouth, he could have been deployed as a makeshift right-back as well — a position the Swiss international has played in during several games.
Walker, who has had his fair share of struggles was thrown into a battle against a top winger despite being unfit.
Unsurprisingly, the six-time Premier League winner had a nightmarish outing on the south coast as he did not train ahead of the clash.
With the Bournemouth wideman being his side’s best player, it was an uncalculated gamble from Pep Guardiola to start Walker against him — also considering how the hosts are one of the best counter-attacking teams in England — promising a contest that will require both sets of players to bring bundles of energy to the table.
In another player’s case, such as Ake, Guardiola’s decision to risk the Dutchman’s fitness was much more understandable as his workload of taming Evanilson was shared by his centre-back partner, Akanji.
Walker says Man City will not use missing Rodri factor as “excuse” to Bournemouth loss
Walker commented on Rodri’s absence by stressing that Manchester City will not let themselves lose games such as in their latest setback against Bournemouth by harping on about Rodri’s injury being the reason.
The Englishman said: “I don’t think we’re using that as an excuse. We’ve got players on the bench and players that started today that felt there were fit to start.”
“We don’t use that as an excuse. We have to give full credit to Bournemouth and move on, move onto the next one.”
“To come here and not get the win is always disappointing.”
Walker’s attitude is certainly one that will impress Pep Guardiola.
Especially considering that the treble-winner was happy to start from the off despite not training ahead of the high-octane affair.
However, Pep Guardiola did somewhat thrown Walker under the bus and his Manchester City side paid a heavy price for his bold move.
