De Bruyne appeared to be frustrated after being replaced on 69 minutes and the manager insisted he had no problem with the midfield maestro’s passionate reaction as he spoke to the press following the 1-1 Anfield draw.
“No he’s happy. No problem. I like it,” said the boss.
“If he’s upset it’s good.
“I took the decision because I knew what we were missing, we missed keeping the ball.
LIVERPOOL 1-1 CITY | Match report
“With him and Bernardo [Silva] and John [Stones] we could not have it. And after we did it better.
“Listen, what can I say for Kevin? We need him and he’s really important.
“It’s a difficult place to play. In the first half he was incredibly involved, with the transitions, and the shots and the corner.
“But the moment after the goal, the game was not in our hands.
“I wanted something to get the game back to us a little bit and this was the idea. No more than that.”
Watch the manager’s press conference in full above.
