Neville says Pep Guardiola made a big mistake in the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United not long ago.
The Citizens lost 2-1 to Manchester United in last weekend’s FA Cup final, ending their chances of winning a local double after winning their fourth straight Premier League title.
At halfway, the Blues were down 2-0, and they only scored one goal in the second half to make things better.
One commentator, a former United player, has said that the City manager got one thing wrong in last weekend’s game at Wembley Stadium now that the Premier League season is over.
Guardiola made a big mistake in the FA Cup final, according to Neville.
Within The Overlap’s most recent email, Neville talked about how both managers prepared their teams for the final.
That box in the middle, with Kobbie Mainoo, Sofyan Amrabat, Scott McTominay, and Bruno Fernandes, was great and very hard to get through, he said.
“Of course, having Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane back also helped a lot.
“In the last few weeks, there have been hints that City has trouble with that system when there are a lot of people in the middle of the field.” They’ve been irritated by Real Madrid, Arsenal, and even Tottenham (even though they lost).
Still, I’m sure Guardiola made a mistake with his starting group on Saturday.
Mateo Kovacic was a bad choice that gave United a foothold in the game. When Jeremy Doku came on, they really pushed United, and the second-half battle with Aaron Wan-Bissaka was great.
Guardiola should have put Doku in the game against United.
After playing the whole game as City beat West Ham United 3-1 to win the Premier League title on the last day of the season, Doku was not picked to start in the FA Cup final and came on in the second half.
Against West Ham, the Belgian made three key passes, had two shots that went in, and finished five of the ten dribbles he tried.
This 22-year-old scored City’s only goal in the second half against United. He also made two important passes and finished three of his five dribbles.
Kovacic didn’t make a single important pass or try to score in the first half, so it’s safe to say that Doku had a bigger effect on the game than Kovacic did.
After reading all of that, it’s clear why Neville thinks Guardiola made a mistake by not starting the winger for City this time.
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