THE NOTEBOOK: Pep Guardiola contradicts himself with team selection against Sheffield United
THE NOTEBOOK: Pep Guardiola contradicts himself with team selection, two loaned Sheffield United stars cheered after failing to qualify – and is it time for the FA Cup to be moved from Wembley after neither side sold out their allocation?
- Pep Guardiola left nothing to chance with his selection for Manchester City
- Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic is a self-proclaimed City supporter
- Tommy Doyle and James McAtee were cheered by both sets of fans at Wembley
Pep Guardiola can be a contradiction at times. Manchester City have been under the Catalan four times at this stage and on two of those occasions Liverpool and Chelsea succumbed after heavy squad changes.
Those who fell out of the calculation in the weeks before were thrown in and failed.
Guardiola said on the eve of this – a more comfortable assignment, albeit against very good opposition in the championship – that his team was exhausted.
And yet, when the City XI came through, the roll call included the almost ever-present Erling Haaland, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish.
After ‘naive’ performances in previous years, the manager left nothing to chance. Penny for the thoughts of Kalvin Phillips, who sat on the bench until the 75th minute.
Pep Guardiola called a strong Manchester City team as they progressed past Sheffield United to the FA Cup semi-finals
Spare a thought for Kalvin Phillips (left) who was not introduced until the 75th minute
The color change of Club Wembley
A ‘colour swap’ will be offered to supporters sitting at Club Wembley. Were you sitting on the fancy seats and wearing your team’s scarf? You must hand in the offending item to a hut.
Ex-Blades midfielder who runs the London Marathon
Former City and Blades midfielder Michael Brown runs the London Marathon for the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, who helped him when he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2020.
Former Sheffield United midfielder Michael Brown runs the London Marathon for the Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield’s self-proclaimed City supporter can’t help but beat
Sheffield United Anel Ahmedhodzic is a self-proclaimed Manchester City supporter after compatriot Edin Dzeko moved to England from Wolfsburg in 2011.
While Dzeko was the catalyst, Ahmedhodzic’s favorite player was Yaya Toure and he usually plunders forward, much like the Ivorian in Paul Heckingbottom’s system.
“The coach wants me to attack every time,” he said. “I’ve never had that before.” Unfortunately, there wasn’t much chance of that here.
Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic (right) is a self-proclaimed Manchester City supporter
The City duo cheered in the cup
Tommy Doyle and James McAtee, on loan at City’s Bramall Lane, were ineligible to play – a rule Guardiola disagreed with.
The youngsters, who watched from behind the United bench, were cheered from all sides as their names were read out.
Tommy Doyle (centre) is loaned out to Sheffield but was unable to play in the cup tie against his parent club
Relocation needed to avoid future Wembley pain
Is it finally time for these semi-finals to travel across the country, or to find a home in the Midlands once again? It’s a complete pain for fans of clubs from the north.
No wonder neither team sold out their allocation, given the expensive tickets at Wembley and the travel chaos: only three direct trains to Manchester afterwards and two to Sheffield.
There were many empty seats at Wembley as both groups of supporters had to pay huge costs to reach the capital