“WTF”! A few minutes after the final whistle, Erling Haaland still had not digested the referee’s decision not to give Manchester City the advantage while Jack Grealish headed for goal in the 90th + 4. Already furious when he left the pitch under the gaze of the cameras, the Norwegian serial scorer, silent this Sunday against Tottenham, therefore let loose on his Twitter account with this “What the fuck” which says a lot in a tweet repeating video of the action. “He is a fantastic player. He is frustrated by the last action and not by the fact of not having scored. What can I say as a coach to my players and our supporters? A team that has done well his best and a full stadium which encouraged us until the end”, tried to dynamite Pep Guardiola on Sky Sports.
If he is necessarily behind his giant and did not want to emphasize the frustration of his offensive leader, the Catalan coach did not miss the opportunity to recall this surprising choice by the referee. “It’s difficult when you see the image again, the referee decides to whistle after having already said to continue playing. After the pass, there is finally this whistle, so I don’t understand this action“, slipped the City coach after initially responding mischievously: “Next question. I won’t make Mikel Arteta-style comments.“
I sometimes lose my mind over referees…
A clear reference that speaks to everyone in the Kingdom. At the beginning of November, the Arsenal coach let loose to criticize an arbitration decision, which had validated Newcastle’s goal which led to his team’s first defeat of the season (1-0) following an intervention by the VAR . “I spent 20 years in this country, and I am ashamed. All this is very far from the level of what we could call the best league in the world“, Arteta then launched, causing a lively controversy across the Channel. A few weeks later, Guardiola was more sober in Match of The Day: “I sometimes lose my mind over referees, but this time I don’t. The error is human“.
The former boss of FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich is trying to stay calm this Sunday. His team, however, remains on three draws in a row in the Premier League, finds itself third, three points behind Arsenal and signs a new match with a defense which gave in several times after the 4-4 against Chelsea. But he puts things into perspective. “In the match against Chelsea, yes, it was a problem, but in Liverpool and against Spurs, no, he explains about the defensive generosity of his players. The problem is when the opponent creates a lot of chances, which was not the case today or against Liverpool“.
On the defensive with his rearguard, Guardiola, on the other hand, regrets the inability of his protégés to kill the match or maintain their advantage. “We continued to play at a high level. But like against Liverpool, we did not know how to achieve and then conclude“, he explains. And he even says he is reassured by the attitude and state of mind displayed by his team. “Football is sometimes made of mistakes, but we are always here. After many years we still feel like we want the title“, he concludes. And the frustration Erling Haaland is there to illustrate his point.