Pep Guardiola has apologised to Steven Gerrard for ‘unnecessary comments’ that left him feeling ‘ashamed’.
The Manchester City manager last week mocked Liverpool legend Gerrard’s infamous slip during a defeat by Chelsea at Anfield that contributed in City lifting the Premier League title in 2014.
Guardiola’s comments came as he fiercely defended the club in the wake of an unprecedented number of Premier League charges for alleged financial breaches.
Guardiola’s initial comments were: ‘I don’t know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping. You know that situation at Anfield? I didn’t want it out of respect for Steven Gerrard, but it’s our fault?’.
However, he apologised to Gerrard during his press conference ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Arsenal on Wednesday.
The City manager said: ‘I apologise to Steven Gerrard for my unnecessary and stupid comments I said last time about him. I am ashamed of myself, because he doesn’t deserve it.’
City were served with Premier League legal papers on Monday last week, announcing charges over alleged financial rule breaches which could lead to a points deduction or expulsion from the top flight.
The charges against the reigning champions relate to financial information regarding revenue, details of manager and player remuneration, UEFA regulations, profitability and sustainability and co-operation with Premier League investigations.
A statement from the league said alleged breaches were committed from September 2009 to the 2017-18 season and that they will be referred to an independent commission.
It added that the club is alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision ‘in utmost good faith’ of ‘accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position’.
Fans took to social media shortly after the new was announced to call for Manchester City to have their titles stripped. However, Guardiola disagreed and referenced Gerrard’s slip when defending his team.
Gerrard’s slip saw Demba Ba open the scoring for Chelsea at Anfield in late April 2014, with Liverpool a matter of games away from lifting the Premier League.
Having lost 2-0 to Chelsea, they travelled to Crystal Palace where they surrendered a three-goal lead to draw 3-3, leaving City to capitalise and win the league.
The City boss added that their ‘moments’, both good and bad, belong to them as a club and cannot be stripped, ‘regardless of the sentence’.
‘Those moments belong to us regardless of the sentence,’ he said. ‘The goal from [Sergio] Aguero (2012), the slip from Steven Gerrard at Anfield (2014). Was that our fault?
‘The Premier League will decide but I know the effort we put in, what we won and the way we won it. If something happened in 2009 or 2010, it is not going to change one second. We lived these moments together for years.’
However, Guardiola regrets making such comments and apologised to Gerrard and his family ahead of City’s clash with Arsenal.
