Paul Pogba has been slated for his Manchester derby performance by Jamie Carragher for his ill-discipline in the middle of the pitch for Manchester United.
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Marouane Fellaini is hurting as much as anyone after the Manchester derby defeat but knows United can not afford to dwell on it with domestic and European assignments to balance.
Specifically on the display against United, Guardiola said: “The first half was good – our build-up was correct, patient, and we attacked in the right moments”.
“The kid Jesse (who was starting just his 21st league game for United) – how many times has he played big matches?” We started the game with some players really below the normal level, in terms of their concentration and their mental ability to play a game of this speed. He is mainly a No9 – if you want to play him in different positions, we need to work him, we need to improve him, but his big personality is there. The team paid for it. He continued playing after a hard first half.
His decision to start Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard over the in-form Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial and Juan Mata left many bewildered.
“And it is not to punish them it is just to decide in relation to what I have, and what do I have?”
“I did not change after 20 minutes because I didn’t want to destroy the players”.
“Let’s say our team didn’t play well in the first half and the responsibility is my responsibility”. And if it wasn’t for the barbaric exploits of Bailly, the game could have been settled by half time. You can tell me he has no intention, I think he has intention.
“All the jealous people who talk about him will swallow all of the words they have said about him”, United striker Ibrahimovic told SFR Sport.
And he suggested that the occasion had got to a few of his starters.
I think the spectators enjoyed it because it was open until the end.
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Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho has described his derby victor against Manchester United as a “dream come true”.
