Pep Guardiola has revealed what he told Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence after Manchester City’s 1-0 win in north London on Wednesday evening, with suggestions that even gave the defender a cheeky slap in the face.
City ground out a hard-fought victory at Spurs to avenge their 4-0 hammering at the hands of Ange Postecoglou’s men in Manchester earlier in the campaign, with Erling Haaland netting the only goal of a game in which the home side squandered late chances to grab an equaliser.
Despite his side’s win, Guardiola was quick to praise his opponents after the final whistle and made a point of approaching Tottenham defender Spence on the pitch after the game.
The in-form full-back was surprisingly left out of Postecoglou’s starting XI against City – a move that irked Tottenham fans – but made an immediate impression when he replaced Destiny Udogie at left-back midway through the second half.
Guardiola approached Spence, with reports claiming he even playfully slapped him around the face, before revealing exactly what he said to the former Middlesbrough star.
Speaking to Hayters, Guardiola said: “Why do you run too much? You should be more calm. [Destiny] Udogie is quite similar. The pace of this team is difficult too…
“Maybe Liverpool, but they are unbelievable, unbearable, and every time they have the ball and run, they are unstoppable; Spence, Pedro Porro, Udogie, [Dejan] Kulusevski, [Heung-min] Son.
“It is an incredibly physical team with a clear idea. They play really good. They played without [Cristian] Romero and [Micky] van de Ven; two of the best central defenders in the league…”
In terms of the slap, journalist Jay Harris reported that Guardiola’s gesture did appear to be a playful one and that he also pointed to Spence’s chest in a clear indication that the 24-year-old had performed well in his cameo appearance on the night.
Postecoglou rues missed chances
Meanwhile, Postecoglou, speaking to Match of the Day after the game, felt his side deserved to get something from a contest in which they caused City plenty of problems in the second half.
The Australian said: “First half we had to hang in there, created a couple chances but we were wasteful with the ball.
“Second half we dominated in all areas but missed a goal to get something out of the game.
“We always knew we would finish strong, we always do, but in the first half we turned the ball over too many times, if you do that against city you allow them to get into a rhythm.
“Some cleaner final third entries we could have had some more chances.”
As to why skipper Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and the outstanding Spence started on the bench, he added: “It was about trying to get our squad up and running again, guys like Destiny [Udogie], and Wilson [Odobert] needed game time.
“Sonny [Son] Djed and Kulusevski have played a lot of football, they came on and made an impact.”
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