Roy Keane believes Pep Guardiola was justified in his decision to take off Kevin De Bruyne for Manchester City against Liverpool.
City played out a 1-1 draw with the Reds at Anfield, in what was a high-quality game of football between two top teams.
City took the lead through John Stones from a well worked corner routine, but Alexis Mac Allister equalised from the penalty spot in the second-half.
In the end, a draw was probably a fair result.
There was a somewhat surprising moment in the second-half when Pep made a double change for City, with Kevin De Bruyne making way for Mateo Kovacic. The Belgian gave an animated reaction as he made his way to the bench and he seemingly wasn’t too happy.
But Roy Keane has backed the Spaniard’s decision…
Roy Keane is Team Pep Guardiola in substitution of Kevin De Bruyne against Liverpool
It was a sight that took quite a lot of people by surprise.
De Bruyne is City’s talisman, and one of the greatest players ever to grace the Premier League.
For him to make way when he did certainly came as a shock, and seemingly the player didn’t see it coming either.
But after the game, Pep explained that it was a move designed to help City get back some control in the game, with De Bruyne obviously someone who is known for taking more risks with his passing.
Speaking after the game, Roy Keane backed Pep’s call over the Belgian. He said on Sky Sports: “I think it was the right decision. I think he was just off a little bit. Listen, Pep is the manager he’s got to look at the bigger picture.
“Kevin, we can’t praise him enough, he’s a world-class player. He was disappointed. Nobody likes to be brought off, but Pep’s job is to look at the bigger picture to try and get the right result for his team. They’ll recover from that, no doubt.”
De Bruyne’s replacement Mateo Kovacic did a good job when he came on and did help City to have a bit more of the ball, as did Jeremy Doku.
A surprising yet sensible decision
At first, it was a real surprise to see De Bruyne coming off for City.
We all know that he is the kind of quality player that can win a game of football in the blink of an eye.
But at the time of the substitution, Liverpool were on top and looked as if they could potentially score another goal.
We know that Pep is obsessed with his team having as much control as possible, and Kovacic was a means of helping City gain more of that.
The Croatian’s introduction did help City to be better on the ball.
He did create City’s goal, but overall De Bruyne had not been particularly influential in the game and despite how incredible a player he is, he is not above being taken off if it’s for the good of the team.
