Pep Guardiola criticises Man City players' first-half performance vs Sheffield United

Pep Guardiola criticised the attitude of his Manchester City players in the first half against Sheffield United on Saturday, using his half-time team talk to address their body language rather than talk tactics.

City were ahead against the Blades but were sloppy in their play and Guardiola was getting increasingly frustrated on the touchline. When Bernardo Silva didn't get a foul, Guardiola's complaints to the fourth official earned him a yellow card, but he pointed to that incident as a benchmark for his players after the break in terms of aggression and application.

The Blues improved in the second half, adding a second goal and comfortably seeing out the result for a first clean sheet in nine Premier League outings, ensuring they ended 2023 unbeaten at home in a run stretching 13 months since defeat at the Etihad in all competitions.

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That record, Guardiola said, makes City comfortable when playing at home, but he felt he needed to intervene at half-time to put smiles back on the faces of his players after criticising their body language.

"[The run] makes us incredibly comfortable but the last three times we were here we didn’t win. Today the first part was silent, the body language of the players - they didn't communicate, didn't talk, didn't laugh, didn't shout," he said.

"It was 'okay, I have to play a football game', and football games cannot be played in that way. I get yellow card because I don’t understand why it was not foul - but I have something inside that I don’t like it and I do it. Not for the referees, for any decision. For patience.

"At half