Pep Guardiola blasts his own players! 'You are cowards'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was furious after the team lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen at home in the 5th week of the Champions League.

Guardiola made critical remarks against his players after the match and attributed the team's defeat to 'cowardice'.

Guardiola said, "If I were a fan, I wouldn't cheer for my team playing the way we played. We didn't try and in football you have to try when you play on the pitch, but we didn't try. Maybe I think I should have rotated because it's impossible to maintain this situation, but I had a lot of trust in them and I still do. I value their value as footballers, maybe more than they think about themselves. This was a good lesson for me, as an experienced manager this is a good lesson for the future."

Guardiola said that his players were afraid of making mistakes, "I think they played not to make mistakes, not to do something. This is very difficult. In football you have to play both defense and offense and you have to try. They played to play safe, not to make mistakes and that's why it's very difficult."

Drawing attention to Arsenal's rise in the Premier League, the Spanish coach said, "We can never lose games, that's the reality. They (Arsenal) are very strong and they are winning games. Just like in the past when Liverpool played against us or we played against Liverpool, they are winning games very solidly and they are not going to lose too many points. So you have to be there and that's what we will try to find."