Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola was eager to explain why he’s so into his defense at the Citizens and rotation is becoming a familiar topic.
What did Pep Guardiola say?
The reigning PL champions have a number of top center-half boxes in their books, with that division solidified over the summer as Akanji was signed from Borussia Dortmund. Manuel Akanji has joined Nathan Aka, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte in Manchester to lead the manager to six different backlines in Manchester City’s last six games.
The Spanish manager highlighted why he shuffled his pack so much this season and said he wished he had the same four backs but they can’t handle it. According to Pep Guardiola, the footballers they can’t handle every three days of expiration, other teams may be able to, but they can’t.
Ake can’t, Dias last season, Laporte came back from a big injury, so it’s important for them that everyone can play and everyone can perform well. Guardiola says if they want to be there with all the titles they are fighting for and with the world championship and be in a position to fight to the end and they need to be ready to fight to the end otherwise it will be so difficult.
A little about the topic
Manuel has impressed since stepping into the Citizens, with his £15m fee already looking pretty lucrative. His experience has been required five times already due to injuries and fitness issues suffered by John Stones, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias.
What’s next for the Citizens?
Pep continued to find a winning formula for Chelsea as they remain unbeaten in the 2022-23 campaign. Next up is Man City’s Champions League clash with FC Copenhagen on Tuesday, followed by a Premier League trip to Liverpool on Sunday.