Paul Merson critical of Manuel Pellegrini

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has blamed manager Manuel Pellegrini for Manchester City's 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

Instead of matching the German's system of 4-5-1, the Chilean coach sent out his side to play with four midfielders and two strikers.

Reflecting on the outcome, Merson has told Sky Sports News that Pellegrini got his tactics wrong at the Etihad Stadium.

"The manager has got to take a lot of blame for [the defeat]. I play at a pub team on a Sunday and we don't even play 4-4-2 - that's how old that is now. They brought him in for his experience in the European football, not the Premier League because he's never managed in the Premier League," he said.

"You would have thought it was a testimonial - there was no high tempo. No Man City player got near a Bayern Munich player all night. The manager is sitting there and everybody is thinking that he has to change it. He's lucky it weren't seven or eight. Bayern played in third gear."

City are back in action this afternoon against Everton. You can follow live text coverage of that match here.