Pep Guardiola gave Liverpool FC a Wembley win with one costly but understandable Man City call

Pep Guardiola has been roundly criticised by some sections of the Manchester City support for the team he fielded at Wembley. But apart from one big call, the Blues boss was left with very little alternative to putting out a side that lacked several big names and was on the back foot for the first 45 minutes.

It is understandable when you have taken out a second mortgage in order to fund an FA Cup semi-final trip, to roll up at Wembley to see a team that was, apart from Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and arguably John Stones, not City’s first-choice XI. But the cold, hard reality is that Guardiola is not paid to make emotive decisions, based on the desperation to concede nothing to a strong rival, or to consider the hardships of fans travelling to London.

He has to take a longer view, in the interests of his team and the club, and that is exactly what he did. He was left counting his wounded after the bruising midweek encounter with Atletico Madrid, with Kyle Walker still wearing a protective boot at Wembley and Kevin De Bruyne - with stitches still in his ankle - only named among the substitutes.

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With Rodri clearly feeling the pace after playing the full 270 minutes - two Champions League quarter-final legs against Atletico and a league clash with Liverpool - during the preceding 11 days, there were few options for the manager. Looking at the subs’ bench, it is difficult to see what those critical fans expected different. Risking De Bruyne further damaging an ankle gash that had him limping in Madrid would have been irresponsible and ineffective.

Playing Ruben Dias in a high-tempo game against world-class opposition for his first game in almost