1 day ago
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about how often he has asked some players to start matches in all competitions
Pep Guardiola suggested he used Ruben Dias more than he wanted to this season to make up for Rodri's absence as he said his remaining players had no option but to pick themselves up and go again. Manchester City have just 13 senior outfield players for the Brighton game on Wednesday after Dias and centre-back partner Josko Gvardiol both picked up significant injuries in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
The pair had started eight of the last 10 games together and were established as the first-choice centre-back pairing. With John Stones injured, Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov have both largely been kept on the bench; they will now have to start a lot more often, with 20-year-old Max Alleyne recalled from a loan spell at Watford to help out.
Erling Haaland is the only player to feature more than Dias this season, and the defender will now be out for four to six weeks with a hamstring injury. Guardiola indicated that he needed Dias to play even when he could have rested as the team required leaders in the absence of Rodri in the middle to control everything.
"I would have loved to put Khusa in more games and not Ruben, but if Rodri is not there I want characters on the pitch and Ruben is an incredible leader," he said. "Having Nico there and the moment we have new players, Ruben gave us stability. I'm not a guy who rotates 10 players like against Leverkusen, but always with two or three or four players you can do it.
"But sometimes when you have some specific players you can rotate more and when you don't have them you rotate less. But it is what it is. It happens many times during the season and I'm pretty sure for the future the lesson will be made."
It hasn't just been Dias that has been asked to play a lot in recent weeks. Nico O'Reilly has started all of the last 10 games, Phil Foden, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland have started nine and Rayan Cherki eight.
It looked like a tired performance against Chelsea, although Guardiola fairly noted the lack of recovery time they had after their game at Sunderland on Thursday night. With so few players available, the same, small group will be asked to go again and again and again in a January that is as important for City's season as it is hectic.
"We have to," the manager said. "I don't have any doubts we have a good heart. I saw when they were exhausted in the first 15 minutes against Chelsea. Every time you have good things you have a good bench, fresh people to make the last 30 minutes and rotate the players. For a long time we could not do that.
"We didn't expect John [Stones] to be injured for a long time again and injuries happen. Last season it happened but we have to stay like this. If you are tired, it is in your mind. If you are there, we can work on it with the players that we have. And we have academy players as well. That's why the academy is here.
"Sometimes I regret in the past not giving more minutes to them so let's go. Young players never disappoint you, they are always there and incredibly focused. They don't ask permission for anything, they don't have some bills that they have to pay because they are clean in their mind and want to be there.
"If they are supported by key players, I don't have any doubts. Max will respond. We saw how he grew up in Watford and he is ready to help us."
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