When Pep Guardiola got into the Anfield dressing room, he quickly told his Manchester City players not to go on social media and share their thoughts on “some departments” of their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Goalkeeper Ederson, injured and not playing, evidently didn’t get the message. He’d already writter on Instagram that “the TV guys lost their glasses at home”, presumably in relation to VAR.

It was pretty direct.

Whether Guardiola felt the same is impossible to say, as his own post-match press conference was nowhere near as direct. It was actually pretty difficult to decipher, with a lot of mixed messages, and even more passive-aggression.

But one thing was obvious. He did not seem happy with a number of decisions.

Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Alisson Becker 7 - had surprisingly little to do but made a couple of key saves AFP via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Trent Alexander-Arnold 8 - made charging runs and brilliant cross-field balls, and won his battle with Raheem Sterling EPA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Dejan Lovren 7 - quietly effective in snuffing out Sergio Aguero's threat REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Virgil van Dijk 8 - dominant in his own box, making several key clearances with head and feet EPA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Andrew Robertson 8 - dogged defensively and delivered a brilliant assist for Mohamed Salah's goal PA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Fabinho 9 - scored a fine goal and disrupted City's midfield rhythm throughout AP Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Jordan Henderson 8 - worked tirelessly and whipped in a stunning cross for Liverpool's third EPA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Georginio Wijnaldum 8 - a typically reliable performance in centre midfield AFP via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Mohamed Salah 8 - finished his header well and pressed intelligently Action Images via Reuters Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Roberto Firmino 7 - linked well with his teammates and worked hard, though finished was awry PA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Sadio Mane 8 - a goal and relentless work ethic AFP via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Cladio Bravo 5 - not at fault for all of the goals but certainly could have done more EPA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Kyle Walker 5 - not his best performance at either end of the pitch Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings John Stones 4 - a difficult night against Liverpool's attack trident PA Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Fernandinho 6 - Struggled to get to grips with Salah's runs in from the right wing AP Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Angelino 5 - provided a threat and picked up an assist but lacking defensively AFP via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Rodri 4 - caught out of position, still looks unfamiliar in the role AFP via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Ilkay Gundogan 5 - a quiet display Liverpool FC via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Kevin De Bruyne 5 - provided City's greatest threat but his crossing was slightly off-target at times REUTERS Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Raheem Sterling 6 - worked hard but ultimately failed to produce an end product Action Images via Reuters Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Sergio Aguero 5 - linked well outside the box but never found the finish AFP via Getty Images Liverpool vs Manchester City ratings Bernardo Silva 6 - game seemed to pass the Portuguese by until his goal Action Images via Reuters

A tone was set when Guardiola came in and described this defeat – which was pretty definitive – as “one of my most proud performances in all my years in management”.

This is the sort of line the Catalan usually reserves for defeats like this, and represented quite a performance in its own right.

It does raise more questions about the exact type of loser he is. He isn’t always the most gracious one, and there are certainly moments when Guardiola just seems like a more internalised version of Jose Mourinho.

The next logical question was naturally about how Guardiola personally finished the game, with those ostentatious “thank yous” to Michael Oliver and his linesmen. The Catalan insisted those comments were “not sarcastic” but, when asked to expand on the actual decisions, just kept repeating “ask Mike Riley” and “the big bosses”.

The City boss conspicuously shook the hand of referees’ head Riley after the game, too.

“The guys who understand everything,” he added. “They know more than me.”

There were also cryptic comments about how City are still learning to be an “elite club”, and to “grow as players”.

The City manager struggled to contain his fury (Getty ) (Getty)

More than a few figures at Anfield wondered whether the implication of this was that they have to learn how to win the decisions like many of the more established elite clubs.

Guardiola, however, wasn’t going that far.

There were passages of the Catalan’s press conference where he seemed to resemble Rowley Birkin QC from the Fast Show, in that there were long streams of consciousness that were difficult to precisely decipher, disrupted by the blurting out of key phrases.

Guardiola was very, very agitated.

Liverpool beat City 3-1 on Sunday (Reuters)

A natural conclusion from all of this is the old classic: that Guardiola is just losing it because he’s losing the title.

It is rare in his career that he has been in this situation – and so far behind the leaders at any point of a season – but the reaction is familiar.

The other side of that is another classic: show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser. Guardiola’s sense of agitation is exactly why he’s such a winner. This is how much it gets to him. This is how bothered he gets… and seeks to rectify things.

There is now, however, an awful lot to rectify in this title race.

Guardiola of course wasn’t conceding but he did just say Liverpool now have “more chances” to win the title.

He knows how costly this was. Everyone else knew how much it meant to him.