Pep Guardiola gives instructions to his Manchester City players
Pep Guardiola gives instructions to his Manchester City players (Image: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Former Bolton Wanderers and Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce has insisted that Pep Guardiola must change his tactics if he is to address Manchester City's shaky form.
The Blues were beaten once again on Wednesday night as Juventus secured a crucial 2-0 victory over City in the Champions League league phase. The defeat has left City on the brink of potentially crashing out of Europe and left Guardiola with just one win in ten matches.
When he arrived at Elland Road, Allardyce took the opportunity in his first press conference to claim he is just as good as Guardiola despite the Catalonian being a multiple time Champions League winner. The veteran manager was ridiculed further when his Leeds side were relegated from the Premier League with a whimper.
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Despite this failure, Allardyce is insistent now that he knows how to fix City. He told Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: "He [Guardiola] has to find a solution as quickly as he can on what he's got available at the moment.
"He needs a change of tactic for a while to calm the players down and get them on the right track, which only comes back by winning. The amount of times you're under the cosh and you're the first one to score completely changes the course of the game.
"The general statistics are if you score first then 80 per cent of the time you don’t lose. So to come back from a goal down and win then becomes the most difficult thing.
"Rodri's not about what he does on the ball, he is the opposite of that. The exposure of Man City's back four is being found out by the fact that Rodri is not protecting them like he used to.
Sam Allardyce and Pep Guardiola share touchline at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium
Sam Allardyce and Pep Guardiola share touchline at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium
"Man City won possession more than anybody else on frontline pressing [previously]. So it's very rare you got to attack Man City's back four, and when you did, you had to make sure you capitalised on it because you had fewer chances than teams are getting in any recent games.
"The frontline's not shutting down as well as they used to because there's a little bit of anxiety or fear that's never been experienced by Man City before because of the amount of losses and pressure that's come on them. All of a sudden Man City players now are not quite as confident as they used to be.
"The back four is being exposed far more now than it's ever been exposed, and they're not coping well with it. It is an all-round out-of-possession thing that they need to get back.
"The protection needs to come from everybody in front of the back four and the back four need to have more responsibility. You should be able to handle one-on-one at Man City if you're a defender."
Guardiola will be hoping his side can find the solution to their problems immediately as they prepare to welcome Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.