Why Pep Guardiola criticism after Man City rotation vs Liverpool is ludicrous

Manchester City supporters were incredibly disappointed to suffer defeat in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, understandably so.

Missing out on the chance to play in the final and losing to a rival like Liverpool on such a big stage, is always going to hurt. City have now lost three consecutive FA Cup semi-finals, and have lost on each of their past three appearances at Wembley Stadium.

Worse than that, though, was the manor of this latest defeat. Pep Guardiola's side were abject in the first half, unable to escape Liverpool's aggressive press and blunt in attack. Two of the goals were completely avoidable too — City's failure to properly mark known aerial threat Ibrahima Konate from a corner was compounded by Zack Steffen's horrendous error that gifted Sadio Mane his first goal.

READ MORE: Man City fightback runs Liverpool close after first-half calamity

Little could be done to prevent Mane's magnificent second, though the timing of it just before the break came as a sucker-punch. To their credit, City fought valiantly in the second half, and if it weren't for some wasteful finishing from Gabriel Jesus, might have completed a remarkable comeback.

But it finished 3-2, and some fans needed someone to blame. As is often the case when things don't go well, Guardiola's team selection was widely called into question, a frankly ridiculous situation given the circumstances.

In case it had escaped anyone's attention, City went into Saturday's showpiece fixture having played three extremely physically and mentally draining matches in the previous 11 days. That level of exertion, combined with the fact that three City players picked up injuries in the trip to Madrid three days earlier, meant that Guardiola was always going