Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot didn't have too much sympathy for Pep Guardiola's plight following his team's win against a faltering Manchester City.
An early Cody Gakpo goal followed by a Mohamed Salah penalty saw Liverpool claim a 2-0 victory at Anfield, contributing to City's fourth consecutive Premier League defeat and leaving them a daunting 11 points adrift of the top spot.
As Guardiola faces what is arguably the toughest period in his decorated managerial tenure, Slot dismissed any notion of feeling sorry for the Spaniard, citing his extensive collection of titles with City which amount to 18 significant trophies. Slot said: "You feel sympathy or empathy with the managers in a really bad place, they have lost many games or are down at the bottom of the league.
Liverpool player ratings, winners and losers vs Man City as Mohamed Salah and 3 more exceptional Arne Slot genius pays off as true Pep Guardiola message to Liverpool clear - 5 things from Man City"But Pep has won so many things and shown so many times already – the league is not decided in November or December, so no-one has to feel empathy or sorry for Pep. Maybe other managers, but not Pep. He will be able to bring City back."
Despite Liverpool now holding a cushy nine-point cushion over Arsenal, Slot remains measured, stressing the significance of maintaining performance even against high-caliber opposition.
He concluded: "Playing against Real Madrid and Manchester City – teams that have been and are so good with managers that have won so many trophies – it is always nice to come out as a winner.
"But the reason they have won so much is they won every three days, so while we are really happy with these two wins we know it is not enough to win at the end of the season."
A cheeky chorus from Liverpool supporters of 'you're getting sacked in the morning' aimed at Guardiola was met with wit as the City coach brandished six fingers to represent his collection of Premier League crowns. Guardiola's reaction was light-hearted: "I didn't expect Anfield to start to chant at 0-2 that I would be sacked.
"Maybe I deserve to be sacked with our results or maybe I'm still in the job because I won six Premier Leagues and a lot of titles. At Anfield I didn't expect it but it's fine. It's part of the game. When you win, you laugh. When you lose, they laugh.
"We congratulate Liverpool for a well-deserved victory. The first 15-20 minutes we experienced like many other times coming here in our prime – we suffered.
"People don't like the line-up but we cannot compete against Liverpool and many, many other clubs that are transitional teams."
