Update: Pep Guardiola loved moment involving five Man City players – so why has he dropped them? News

Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City which players he sees as the ‘future’ – but has strangely overlooked them in recent games.

When Omar Marmoush span away from trouble in his own half and set Savinho running, little did he know it would end in a move that would prompt Pep Guardiola to praise the ‘future’ of his Manchester City team.

Savinho ran into the opposite half, Erling Haaland came deep to move the ball along and feed Nico Gonzalez who promptly shifted the ball wide to Jeremy Doku on the opposite flank. Doku danced into the box and found a rare assist for Haaland – who had raced into the box to be exactly where he needed to be.

That goal at Tottenham in February was hailed as City’s future by Guardiola, with three young, attacking forwards all playing their part supported by two more industrious January arrivals. “For sure is the future. We have a young young team. The three up front is the future,” Guardiola declared.

“Nico and when Rodri comes back is the future. Of course [Abdukodir] Khusanov, you see it today. Josko [Gvardiol] is young.” So there was Guardiola, effectively naming seven players he wants to build his team around. Add Phil Foden in there somewhere and Guardiola’s idea of his next era at City looks exciting.

The problem is that Foden has been under-par this season and with every passing game it feels like Guardiola will have to wait until next term to get the ‘real’ Foden back. Still – a midfield trio of Rodri, Gonzalez and Foden or Marmoush looks versatile and creative.

Since that Spurs win, where Guardiola looked happier at full-time than he had all season, Guardiola has replicated that ‘future’ system just once – when Gonzalez, Marmoush, Doku, Savinho and Haaland all started in the 2-2 draw with Brighton. Haaland’s injury against Bournemouth has scuppered those plans of course but the other four have only started together in one game without the number nine and that was against whipping boys Leicester.

In the seven games since Spurs, Guardiola has rotated his attack, started Doku and Savinho together just three times, and Gonzalez for example has only three starts in that time. His go-to system has seemed to be the old guard of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne – plus Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish.

Basically – slow and steady over faster and… less steady. Less risk by trusting players he knows in a bid to secure a Champions League place, even if that puts the longer-term rebuild behind a little.

“I decided for the players with experience who know all the patterns better,” he said last week, discussing Gonzalez’s recent omissions. “And look what happened against United! But it’s not against him because Jeremy [Doku] has played awesome recently for many games and didn’t play against United. It’s not against any players particularly.

“The impact for the news ones has been really good. I’m impressed in training. It’s not easy when they come to an environment where the way we are playing and the results are not good. Nico has played good and I’m pretty sure when Rodri comes back just by mimicking him in training sessions he will learn a lot.”

Gonzalez has been earmarked for that box-to-box role when Rodri returns and that’s where he was allowed to look good against Spurs. So maybe that is why Guardiola wants control at the moment, even after dangling the exciting carrot of more moments like the goal in North London.

One goal doesn’t make a top five place, though, and Guardiola’s other assessment at Spurs showed he remains committed to transitioning from old to new.

“Bernardo, Gundogan, Kevin are really important for us. Of course it’s a question of time,” he cautioned in an answer overlooked at the time but maybe more pertinent now.

“This season, the young players and the new acquisitions the club will make in the next transfer windows have to lead this club for the next years. Never this season will be old city. The old city was too good. But we’ll be back.”

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