Pep Guardiola's Call for Perfection Amid VAR Controversies

Pep Guardiola has had enough of leaving trophies – and titles – at the mercy of a screen.

Twice in two years, Manchester City have walked away from FA Cup finals seething at officials and VAR. Twice, Guardiola has felt decisive moments slipped away not because of his players’ quality, but because of what he sees as failures in the booth and on the pitch.

His solution is brutally simple: play so well that no decision matters.

Scars from Wembley

Those Wembley defeats still sting. In 2024, City were stunned 2-1 by Manchester United, a result that cut deep not just because of the opponent, but because of what Guardiola believes his side were denied.

He remains convinced City should have had two penalties that day, both involving Erling Haaland. First, a challenge from Lisandro Martinez. Then another from Kobbie Mainoo. On both occasions, City expected intervention. On both occasions, nothing came.

A year later, the script twisted again. Crystal Palace, massive underdogs, produced a shock to win the FA Cup and leave City empty-handed once more. Dean Henderson turned in one of the performances of his career, even saving a penalty, yet the match carried another flashpoint.

Henderson handled outside his area. It could have been a red card. It wasn’t. Palace survived, then triumphed.

Guardiola has not forgotten. “We lost the two finals of the FA Cup because the referees didn’t do their jobs they should do, even the VAR,” he said. The frustration is clear, the accusation direct.

VAR storm clouds over the title race

The wider debate around VAR has flared again after the weekend’s drama at the bottom and top of the Premier League.

Relegation-threatened West Ham thought they had snatched a stoppage-time equaliser against title-chasing Arsenal. After a long VAR check, the goal was ruled out. Arsenal breathed, West Ham raged, and the entire table shuddered.

Calls like that can define seasons. Guardiola knows it. He just refuses to live with that as an excuse.

“When this happens it is because we have to do better, not the referees or VAR,” he said. “I never trust anything since I arrived a long time ago. Always I learned you have to do it better, do it better, be in a position to do it better because you blame yourself with what you have to do, because (VAR) is a flip of a coin.”

For him, the message is relentless: control what you can, accept that everything else is chaos.

No room for doubt against Palace

That brings City to Wednesday night and a familiar opponent: Crystal Palace, this time at the Etihad rather than Wembley, but with the stakes no less sharp.

City trail Arsenal and need a win to slice the gap at the top down to two points. Any slip invites more jeopardy, more dependence on others, more nights spent watching replays and re-refereeing decisions on screens.

Guardiola wants none of that.

“You have to do better and better for yourself, and that is focusing on Crystal Palace for us,” he said. “Of course it is not in our hands in the Premier League. Always I say to the players, ‘Do it, do it, do it better’.”

He knows the margins. Lose focus, lose control. “I always learned that when you lose the focus, you are in a dangerous situation. The only thing we can do is do it better, that is only in your control.”

So the instruction is clear. Forget the officials. Forget VAR. Forget what happened at Wembley, even if the scars never quite fade.

Beat Palace well enough that no one is talking about a monitor when the final whistle blows.