Guardiola presses pause to focus on Manchester City’s battles ahead

The day after the craziness and pulse a little closer to resting levels Pep Guardiola did as he always does. The Manchester City manager looked into his laptop to run through the forensic debrief and he pressed pause.

Guardiola would have done so in the 73rd minute of the 2-2 thriller with Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium when Gabriel Jesus worked an opening to the right of goal. Kevin De Bruyne was on for the cut-back. Just pass it to Kevin. But no. Jesus still shoots into the side net and 50,000 voices still scream at him – most vociferously that of De Bruyne.

The moment that had haunted Guardiola after the game, which he referenced with such overt frustration, would not have looked any better, either. Phil Foden to De Bruyne to Riyad Mahrez, the substitute, in the 94th minute. Pause. The first-time touch into Foden still looks on, although Mahrez has clearly made up his mind to jink inside. Pause again. The pass to Foden appears an even better bet now. Play. Mahrez still sends the chipped shot high.

Guardiola understood. For him there can be no recriminations, particularly not after such a dynamic team performance; a day when he got so much right, including his selection of Jesus and Raheem Sterling in the front line. Their runs in behind the Liverpool defence caused all manner of problems, testing the recovery pace of the centre-halves and even making Virgil van Dijk look a little edgy at times.

“I make ‘pause’ … the game stops, nobody moves … don’t pass the ball there,” Guardiola said. “But in football, they have to make a decision in half a second. And it’s difficult, always. My reaction on the bench … Aaargh, how we don’t do it? Hands moving around. But after, I understand them. It’s difficult sometimes and, in the