Pep Guardiola says he doesn't train Man City players tackling after defeat by Leicester

By Gerard Brand

Image: Pep Guardiola said he "doesn't train tackles" following Manchester City's 4-2 defeat by Leicester on Saturday

Pep Guardiola said he "doesn't train tackles" following Manchester City's 4-2 defeat by Leicester on Saturday.

Jamie Vardy and Andy King had the champions 3-0 up within just 20 minutes, before the Leicester striker rounded off the victory with his hat-trick goal in the second half.

Despite having 78 per cent possession, Guardiola's side lacked the cutting edge to break down the hosts, and have now taken just 12 points from a possible 27 in the Premier League.

Image: Jamie Vardy celebrates as John Stones reacts in the foreground

Asked about his side's struggles to win the ball off Leicester, having not won a tackle in the opening 35 minutes, Guardiola said: "The second balls is a concept that is typical here in England when they use a lot about the tackles. 

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"I am not a coach for the tackles so I don't train the tackles. What I want is to try and play good and score goals and arrive more [in the box]. 

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"Yes the duels you have to win that's true. But normally when you play good you win a lot of tackles but after four minutes 2-0 in the mind of the players [they say] 'what's going on, what happened' and it's not easy for them. 

Image: Vardy hit a hat-trick against a stumbling Man City

"That's why it's another aspect of the football but in the end we're not going to win or lose for the tackles." 

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Despite saying his side played well at the King Power, the Spaniard admitted he must work on City's defensive elements in the weeks to come.

"I have to improve to solve that. I want to play the football I feel because of course that is simple like that [to think you should] concede few goals and to try to score more. 

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"The base of the way we play during the season, except a few times, was quite good. I cannot say today we played bad. 

"We didn't play with the intention to create but after four minutes 2-0, and after the third goal, how we played the second half, we tried. 

"But of course we concede a lot of goals. I always tried, and I realised to control the games we must concede less goals and here I cannot do that. So I have to analyse why."

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