‘He’s got a point’ – Man City fans react as Pep Guardiola cites infamous Lyon loss to defend ‘Overthinking’ stance

Pep Guardiola cited the infamous defeat to Lyon in the Champions League as he defended his latest tactical approach.

The Manchester City manager has moved one of his defenders up alongside Rodri in recent months ahead of three centre-backs, limiting the influence that his full-backs can have.

Joao Cancelo left on a six-month loan to Bayern Munich after it was established he would not see many minutes with that formation, while Kyle Walker has started just two of the last six games.

Guardiola insists that the club have not lost faith in Walker but that he does not have the skills required for that particular system.

However, as well as pointing out that the 32-year-old can play in many different set-ups he also used the Champions League defeat to Lyon three years ago to make the point that he only makes decisions based on what he sees from the players and the team every day.

“Maybe I want players now who defend better or do the build-up better. Always I change, it depends on what I see and the mood of the team,” he said.

“I played five in the back in the Champions League against Lyon when I never used it because that year we defended really really poor and when we played four at the back we were incredibly inconsistent.

“I decided to use this in that moment. It doesn’t work? Overthinking, Pep. If it works, genius.

“I saw things that made me take decisions. What I tried to do is all the time being fit and asking, there are players that can do it better than the other ones.”

These Guardiola’s comments were shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.

@ComicaICity: “He knows omg he used the term overthinking”

@Riot_V11: “He’s got a point. He’s gonna get stick because he’s that good, everyone expects him to win”

@livefaku: “He’s honestly right. Should he start Akanji ahead of Walker against Bayern and the team ends up losing the tie it will be classified as “overthinking”

@mavsxge: “At least try it in a few league games beforehand. It’s like going into battle with a weapon you’ve never used”

@mancitybongo: “The issue is trying new things in difficult games.. atleast we try those systems in a league then we go in UCL with it. It’s like trying to use a weapon you have never used in a battlefield.”