Pep Guardiola said he saw a “bright future” with Manchester City despite losing to Premier League leaders Liverpool at the Etihad.
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Guardiola sees “bright future” with City
Guardiola left the experienced Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, and Bernardo Silva on the bench in favor of a young team with an average age of just 24.7 years.
City included three 20-year-olds — Rico Lewis, Savinho, and Abdukodir Khusanov — in the starting lineup.
Liverpool capitalized on the less-seasoned City en route to a a 2-0 victory on Sunday.
Despite the loss, Guardiola said he was impressed with the young players.
“I saw a bright future,” Guardiola told BBC.
“Other than Kevin [De Bruyne] and Nathan [Ake], they are the future of this club in the next years, with others who will come in future windows.
“It was a good game. Tight game in the first half. First half it was more open and in the second half they defended very deep. They always have the threat but it is not easy to control it. Big compliment to them but I am very pleased with the way we play.”
Haaland out during Liverpool game
The result leaves City 20 points behind Liverpool in the table
Meanwhile, City were once again without star striker Erling Haaland due to the knee injury he sustained during the 4-0 win over Newcastle.
Haaland was kept on the bench against Real Madrid in midweek and was left out of the squad entirely for the Liverpool match.
City will face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday and Guardiola is unsure whether the Norway international will be back.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“I am not saying we didn’t get the result because Erling was not there. That is unfair on the other players. We could finish more but in general it is fine.”
