Pep Guardiola's Relentless Pursuit of Perfection Amid VAR Controversies

Pep Guardiola has had enough of the coin toss.

For him, that’s what VAR has become at the sharp end of English football – a flip, a gamble, something no elite side should ever rely on when trophies and titles are on the line.

So his solution is simple, and typically ruthless: make the margin of victory so clear that no referee, no replay, no drawn-off lines can touch it.

Scar tissue from Wembley

The Manchester City manager is still carrying the scars of the last two FA Cup finals. Two years running, he watched his side walk up the Wembley steps as losers, and he has not softened his view of why.

“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. No dressing it up. No diplomacy.

In 2024, City were stunned 2-1 by Manchester United, a result that cut deep not just because of the rivalry but because Guardiola believed his team were denied two penalties. Both incidents involved Erling Haaland in the box, first under a challenge from Lisandro Martinez, then from Kobbie Mainoo. City appealed. VAR checked. Nothing.

Last season brought a different opponent, Crystal Palace, but the same bitter taste. Palace’s shock win owed plenty to Dean Henderson, who produced a standout performance, including a penalty save. Yet Guardiola left convinced the game might have turned on another key moment: Henderson handling outside his area. Again, no dismissal. Again, no lifeline.

Those calls still grate. But Guardiola has no intention of letting them define his team’s story.

“Do it better” – Guardiola’s answer to VAR

For all the anger, his message to his players strips away any excuses.

“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.”

That line – “do it better” – has become a mantra inside the City dressing room. It’s not about trusting the system. It’s about removing the system from the conversation entirely.

You score the extra goal. You take the extra chance. You don’t leave the season hanging on a still frame and a set of lines drawn in a control room.

Arsenal, West Ham and a title race on edge

The debate around VAR has flared again after a dramatic moment at the other end of the Premier League table – and the very top of it.

Relegation-threatened West Ham thought they had snatched a stoppage-time equaliser against title-chasing Arsenal, only to see it wiped out after a lengthy VAR check. The goal would have shaken the title race and offered a lifeline at the bottom. Instead, it vanished, leaving fury in east London and relief in north London.

Decisions like that ripple straight across Guardiola’s world. Arsenal remain in control of the title race. City, chasing once more, know every marginal call can tilt the balance.

Guardiola’s answer is not to join the chorus on talk shows or to pore over screenshots. He wants his players to put the argument out of reach.

Crystal Palace next – and no room for doubt

That brings the focus to Wednesday night and a familiar opponent. City host Crystal Palace knowing a win would cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to two points and crank the pressure back up.

Palace, of course, are not just another fixture on the calendar for Guardiola. They are part of the recent pain, part of the narrative he is trying to rewrite.

“You have to do better and better for yourself, and that is focusing on Crystal Palace for us,” he said. The title, he knows, is not in City’s hands right now. Arsenal control the race. City can only keep running.

“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’.”

The warning is clear. Lose focus, and you invite chaos. You invite VAR. You invite that coin toss he no longer wants any part of.

“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 City go again, chasing Arsenal, chasing perfection, chasing the kind of performance that leaves no space for controversy – and no excuse if they fall short.