Pep Guardiola admits it’s by no means straightforward to depart gamers out of the First XI however stresses his solely focus is on getting robust outcomes as Metropolis chase Champions League qualification.
Phil Foden, Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva all dropped out of the beginning line-up for the 2-2 draw with Brighton whereas Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic have been additionally on the bench alongside James McAtee and Vitor Reis.
In the meantime, Nico O’Reilly, who bagged a brace within the FA Cup victory over Plymouth, missed out altogether.
The supervisor insists he doesn’t get pleasure from disappointing his stars however at all times selects his staff based mostly on the belongings they create to that exact sport.
“All of the managers around the globe, they make the choice,” he mentioned.
“They choose the XI it’s as a result of they consider it’s going to win the sport. I by no means discovered a supervisor, by no means ever, that selects 11 gamers and thinks they will lose.
“Once we don’t win, it may very well be higher however we don’t know. I attempt to be sincere and we wanted velocity up entrance and stability in midfield with Gundo’s intelligence and the physicality from Nico as a result of I noticed many instances with Brighton the physicality with Mitoma, the individuals up entrance and the midfield gamers and the way good they’re.
“Subsequent sport we are going to see who will play, the best way we’re going to play and with who we’re going to play.
“I really feel so sorry for all of the gamers that don’t play. What can I say?
“Matheus, Kova, many gamers, Nico wasn’t chosen, McAtee. I do know that.
“When we have now a sport each three days it’s straightforward to rotate however immediately I chosen realizing the standard they’ve, the tempo from Omar, Erling is at all times a risk, Jeremy was excellent with what number of instances he acquired to the byline, Savio missed two clear possibilities however was actually, actually good.
“We take the purpose and proceed. 27 factors to play and take as a lot as attainable.”
Bernardo, a type of on the bench initially, did come on within the second half simply earlier than the hour mark however needed to be withdrawn injured lower than 20 minutes later.
Guardiola is hopeful his Portuguese playmaker, boasting 17 trophies in his Metropolis cupboard to this point, may be match sufficient to face Bournemouth once we return to motion within the FA Cup in two weeks.
“He’s extremely robust and an unimaginable lad and I used to be watching him for 5 minutes he could not make two steps correctly,” he added.
“In that second I made a decision to not take a danger.
“Hopefully it is going to be a knock and in two weeks he can get better. Hopefully it is going to be that.
“However I did not have time but to speak to the docs.”