"What is that midfield?", "Is this satire?" - Manchester City fans react as Guardiola names XI for FA Cup Q/F against Bournemouth
Manchester City's starting XI for their FA Cup quarter-final fixture away at Bournemouth has raised eyebrows, with supporters hitting social media in disbelief. The two Premier League clubs are set to clash at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday (March 30).
Guardiola selected Ederson in goal, while the back four was reshuffled for the occasion, with Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Matheus Nunes (at right-back) starting. Captain Kevin De Bruyne starts in the midfield, sitting just ahead of Ilkay Gundogan and Matteo Kovacic. Erling Haaland is supported in attack by Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.
Fans online were quick to notice that the three starting midfielders - De Bruyne (33), Gundogan (34), and Kovacic (30) - have a combined age of 97. They reacted skeptically, with many lamenting the lack of youthful energy in midfield with comments like these:
"What is that midfield?" a fan was shocked.
"Is this satire? Genuinely?" another was surprised.
"😂 na we are going to get coookked lol," a fan was pessimistic.
"Is this a joke?" another cried.
"I will not be watching. Praying we win though," a fan wrote.
"Bernado kovacic gundo foden nunez pep doesnt want the FA Cup," another claimed.
Pep Guardiola calls his season at Manchester City “really poor”
Pep Guardiola has accepted this season has been “really poor” by his standards as Manchester City stand far off the pace in the Premier League title race. The defending champions sit fifth in the table with nine matches to play, and the title is out of the question for them.
Even after leading Manchester City to six Premier League titles since 2016, Guardiola has made no secret of his feelings about this particular season. He said (via BBC):
"This season? Really poor. The opponents never gave us a red carpet to win the titles that we won in the past. My duty was to overcome the situation much better than I have done [this season]."
Guardiola has never failed to finish in the top three in a league season at any club in his managerial career. However, that record is now under some serious threat. There is still hope for silverware, as City hope to reach the last four in the FA Cup for a seventh-straight season.
