Pep Guardiola accuses his Manchester City side of playing with fear in Leverkusen loss

Pep Guardiola has accused Manchester City’s players of performing with fear in their 2-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen. The head coach made 10 changes for the Champions League match and said those selected had not taken the risks needed to win.

After two straight losses, City hope to return to form when Leeds visit on Saturday. Daniel Farke’s side have won once in their past six Premier League games, leaving them in the relegation zone. Guardiola is likely to recall many of those rested from the start on Tuesday.

Those who did play from the outset against Leverkusen tried to get home supporters to make noise on what was a quiet night at the Etihad Stadium to little or no avail. Guardiola did not blame them.

“As a fan, I would not cheer my team, playing in the way we played,” the head coach said. “We didn’t try and in football when you play on the green you have to try things and we didn’t try. Maybe I have a theory to rotate because it’s impossible to sustain but I had a lot of confidence in them and I still do. I have a huge value for what they are as football players. Maybe I think higher of them than they think about themselves. It was a good lesson for me, as experienced as I am as a manager it was a good lesson for me for the future.”

With City playing twice a week until mid-January, Guardiola will need to rely on his entire squad but some are facing a crisis of confidence. “I’m pretty sure that they, surrounded by other players, will play good,” he said. “I think they played not to make mistakes, not to play to do something. That is so difficult. In football, you have to play defensive and offensive and you have to try. They played to be safe, to not make mistakes and that’s why it’s so difficult.”

Erling Haaland has scored 14 of City’s 24 Premier League goals this season, with no one else in the squad registering more than one goal. Guardiola insisted that is not a “main concern”. Rodri, meanwhile, remains absent with a hamstring injury but, according to the manager is “not far off”.

City begin the weekend in third, seven points behind leaders Arsenal. “We cannot lose games – absolutely,” Guardiola admitted. “That is the truth. They [Arsenal] are so strong and winning games and winning games in a way where they are so solid like we had in the past with Liverpool against us or us against Liverpool that they are not going to drop many points. That’s why you have to be there and this is what we will try to find.”