To be clear, the team Pep selected made a lot of sense on paper. He knew they'd play a diamond in midfield and look to break at every opportunity, so he decided to play Stones for his ability on the ball, Ake for his recovery pace and Kovacic for maximum possession. They were totally neutralised until we gifted them a goal. Doku was fantastic when he came on, but I wouldn't have started him against Wan-Bissaka either.
Players let him down today. He clearly told them as much at half time, because we were a lot more like ourselves second half. But we gave ourselves too much to do. Lacked quality in moments.
