Pep Guardiola: Manchester City boss says he made tactical mistakes in FA Cup final

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admits he got his tactics wrong in the 2-1 FA Cup final defeat by Manchester United.

Guardiola made three changes to the team that beat West Ham last weekend to win the Premier League title.

With Wembley 2-0 down at half-time, he reversed two of them, bringing on Jeremy Doku and Manuel Akanji for Mateo Kovacic and Nathan Ake.

“Congratulations to Manchester United for winning the FA Cup,” Guardiola said afterwards.

“I think my game plan was not good. The second half was much better. We were more intense, partly because we were 2-0 down and had nothing to lose. It was a close game.

“We had clear chances in the second half, which wasn’t easy because they were marked and defending pockets, but we had chances and unfortunately we scored a goal a little late.”

It was the first time Guardiola had lost a domestic cup final in England, following four League Cup successes and two FA Cup successes.

“It’s normal that teams can lose finals, but this season has been extraordinary, fighting for all the trophies in a good way,” he added. “We’ll rest and come back next season.”

Guardiola was asked if his team was slow, but he said: “No. For my decisions we were not in the right positions to attack them. My mistake, my game plan was not good.”

When asked what he was trying to do, he added: “The players know the reason why. Tactically, it wasn’t good. I wasn’t good today. You plan a game for different positions but it didn’t work.

“Always when we play against United we are in control and we created in the second half but we weren’t able to.”