Pep Guardiola conceded that Manchester City’s performance lacked “fluidity” in their 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Saturday.
The manager pointed out three players whose contributions posed challenges for his team.
In the Premier League encounter, City suffered their first loss since May, when they were defeated 1-0 by Brentford on the final day of the season, although they had already secured the title. Additionally, the loss prevented them from achieving a club record of seven consecutive wins at the beginning of a top-flight campaign.
The game saw Ruben Dias inadvertently scoring an own goal, allowing Wolves to take the lead in the first half. However, Julian Alvarez equalized with a free-kick just before the hour mark. Hwang Hee-chan later netted the winning goal in the 66th minute, narrowing City’s lead at the top of the league table to just one point.
Guardiola highlighted that certain crucial roles were not fulfilled by midfielder Mateo Kovacic and defender Ruben Dias. He also provided an explanation for the halftime substitution of Matheus Nunes against his former club.
The City boss said: “We didn’t do our process properly to attack with a little more fluidity and that’s why we struggled a little bit in the transitions.
“When the opposition defends that well, Kovacic or Ruben has to attack the central defenders of the opponents – and we didn’t do it. That’s why it was more difficult.
“But it was always going to be a difficult game and we knew it, and they defended really well in all situations.
“The players know exactly what they have to do, they have done it I don’t know how many times since I’ve been here. This always makes it more difficult.”
Guardiola was watching on from the stands rather than the touchline, having picked up a suspension after being booked three times in the opening weeks of the season.
On Nunes’ withdrawal, he added: “I needed more dynamic and I wanted more in the small spaces and Oscar [Bobb] is really good at finding those with the creativity he has.”
City’s defeat makes their clash with title rivals Arsenal next weekend all the more interesting. The Gunners won 4-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday and are a point behind, level with Tottenham after Liverpool’s controversial defeat in north London.