Pep Guardiola said it was “good” that Kevin De Bruyne was angry at being substituted during Manchester City’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool on Sunday (10).
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The midfielder was very angered by Guardiola’s decision to replace him with Mateo Kovacic after 69 minutes of the game. De Bruyne showed his displeasure at the situation before sitting down on the bench.
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A little later Guardiola went to De Bruyne and spoke to the player, who was still showing his discontent. “I like it. If he’s upset it’s good. He’s happy now… I knew what we were missing”, said City’s manager about the situation.
“Afterwards we did better. What can I say to Kevin? He’s important and we need him. But in the second half, after we had conceded a goal, the game was not in our hands and we had to do something to give it back to us”, added Guardiola.
“We need a player who keeps the ball. It’s not about pressing. It’s not about his play, that’s why Mateo is really good at that… We were happy with Kevin. It’s not a problem. We’re fine”, insisted the manager.