Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the decision to include Claudio Echeverri in his squad and then play him
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Claudio Echeverri of Manchester City has a shot saved by Dean Henderson of Crystal Palace during the FA Cup Final
Claudio Echeverri is denied by Dean Henderson during the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Crystal Palace
Pep Guardiola defended his decision to hand Claudio Echeverri his Manchester City debut in the FA Cup final. The winter arrival from River Plate had not made a matchday squad before Saturday but earned a place among the replacements ahead of more established teammates and then came off the bench ahead of Jack Grealish and Ilkay Gundogan.
Echeverri had a lively cameo, going close with a couple of shots and earning a booking for a heavy challenge in his 25 minutes on the pitch. The young Argentine made more of an impact than Phil Foden, who was brought on at the same time.
However, it was still a decision that took many by surprise and City left Wembley defeated after being unable to respond to Eberechi Eze's first-half goal. Guardiola was happy with the performance both from Echeverri and his whole team, just rueful that they could not take any of the chances that they created.
"That was not a bad decision, the way he played," said Guardiola. "He had three chances in small spaces.
"I saw him in training sessions since then. Khusanov, Vitor (Reis) and him the last four or five games in the tribune, I didn't like that.
"He's moving really well in small spaces, so creative and I thought within the game that the last minutes to find something in these type of games. Dribble once, shoot and score a goal or cross.
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"He had the first shot that normally he is so clever there and so precise. He had one ore two more like Nico (O'Reilly) did and Kevin and Erling. We had the chances but unfortunately we could not score."
Guardiola started a very attacking team expecting Palace to defend deep in a similar manner to Southampton, and felt vindicated by the way the final panned out. He left Wembley feeling a lot better about his team than he did a week ago, only without any major silverware for the season.
"With 11 players in the penalty box, we created a lot," he said "In the last month we fixed the problem we had all season defensively and scoring goals.
"We gave away a lot of goals and in the last period we were so stable, we conceded five goals in nine games so we were stable, they didn't create much.
"I'm not saying it's easy against Southampton and 11 players but we learn for many years we need good crosses, good people in the box. I thought the game would be quite similar to Southampton and that's why we put players in the box with proper wingers.
"Savinho was brilliant for the first ten minutes of the second half and Jeremy all game was brilliant, we had Erling and Omar in the box and some actions from Nico arriving. We created much more in that position.
"Sometimes it is difficult to come back but the chances were there. Southampton they were not. The chance were there but we could not score. It's football, it happens."
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