Admitted defeat in advance? Guardiola has no confidence in talking about Manchester City s Champions League qualification: If you don t have the chance, it means we are not worthy

In the early morning of May 21, a focus battle will be held in the 37th round of the 2024/25 Premier League. Defending champion Manchester City faces visiting Bournemouth at home. Currently in the standings, Manchester City ranks 6th in one game in less than a game and still does not qualify for the Champions League next season. And coach Guardiola also seemed to be lacking in confidence when talking about this issue.

In the just-concluded FA Cup final, Manchester City lost to Crystal Palace 0-1 0-1 and suffered a two-game losing streak in the final of the event. The FA Cup lost the championship, which has completely lost all the big ones this season. Next, they will fight for a Champions League qualification. In the last two rounds of the Premier League, Manchester City's opponents are Bournemouth and Fulham. Both teams still have hope of European competition, and it is not easy for Manchester City to win.

At the pre-match press conference against Bournemouth, Guardiola spoke bluntly when talking about the Champions League qualification issue: "Of course it is very important. I don't know how long it has been for Manchester City to play in the Champions League in the past 13, 14, 15 years, or how long it has been. But if we fail to enter the Champions League, it is because we are not worthy of it. And we have to participate in the UEFA Cup. So that's it..."

To be honest, it is really unexpected that such lack of confidence comes from Guardiola. After all, in the previous two seasons, he also led Manchester City to win the European Triple Championship and the Premier League four consecutive championships. However, the current situation at Manchester City is indeed not optimistic. In the past two games, Guardiola's team has been hit by clean sheets, and their opponents are Southampton, the deputy captain of the Premier League and Crystal Palace, which once won 5-2. If we continue to play according to this trend, Manchester City really has no confidence in defeating Bournemouth and Fulham.

But if you don't deserve the qualification of the Champions League, Guardiola is probably the biggest scapegoat. It can also be said that only he is the least worthy. In the last two games, Manchester City has welcomed the comeback of main center Haaland, but the offensive end has suddenly become silent. Especially in the FA Cup final with Crystal Palace, the Norwegian center even gave up the penalty kick to Marmush. It is obvious that his confidence in scoring is seriously insufficient. This is also directly related to Guardiola's tactical style of play.

Or take the game with Crystal Palace as an example. Manchester City sent off an offensive combination of Haaland, Doku, Savigno and Marmush in the frontcourt. These players are all counterattack experts without exception. However, Guardiola still insists on the passing and control tactics and slowly stumbles in the midfield and frontcourt, which also makes the technical characteristics of several offensive players unable to be played. In this game, Manchester City occupied 72% of the ball possession rate, scoring 23 shots, but only 6 shots on the right side. The only excellent chance to score was the penalty kick taken by Marmush.

To put it bluntly, even if Haaland and Marmush are allowed to play the tactic of dog-holding frisbee, Manchester City will not be unable to score goals on Saints and Crystal Palace. But Guardiola can't see this truth that anyone with a discerning eye knows. Perhaps in his eyes, the art of football is the most important thing, and he doesn't care about the championship or the outcome. So if you say you don’t deserve the qualification for the Champions League, then it’s probably only him who doesn’t deserve it, not these players.