Pep Guardiola insists surprise tactical tweaks will continue at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola will not stop making surprising tactical changes if he believes these will help Manchester City but has admitted to shying away from some in case they backfired and “people kill me”.

In Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Arsenal Guardiola fielded Bernardo Silva at left-back before moving the Portuguese into a more familiar advanced position on 60 minutes. Afterwards the manager described his tactics as “horrible”. He was reminded of the comment on Friday.

“I meant in general how I imagined the game, it didn’t work, not because Bernardo played left-back,” he said. “If it works I am brave, if it doesn’t work I am overthinking. Arrogant. ‘What is Pep believing, changing tactics? Why don’t you play Kevin De Bruyne all the time? Why don’t you play the other ones?’ Because Kevin De Bruyne cannot play all the games. He needs to be fresh here [in the head]. He has to get the message, he can do better.

“I cannot go to sleep or wake up in the morning, have something inside of me visualising what the opponent can do and think: ‘The normal thing is play the starting XI that 89% of the people around the world say is the best.’

“In 14 years, starting with the second team Barcelona, I never took a decision like: ‘I am going to show something [to show off].’ I have to feel it in my guts, in my stomach.”

Guardiola will not stop making similar calls but in the past his courage has failed him. “I [did refrain] sometimes a few times in my career,” he said. “It’s rare but I do it in important games because if it’s then going wrong, people are going to kill me [so instead] I play the biggest stars.

“[It’s about] responsibility. I feel, I see many things, I speak to staff, see training, see personal issues of players with problems at home,