Pep Guardiola has had the unenviable job of picking a starting line-up from one of the most talented squads in Europe since his move to Manchester City in 2016.
While the current Manchester City roster is perhaps not as gifted as previous iterations of the team, there are still plenty of top-class players on their books.
From superstars like Erling Haaland and Rodri to young players like Savinho and Oscar Bobb have likely given Pep Guardiola plenty of selection headaches over the years.
One City player who has not played much recently, despite being in cracking form is Jeremy Doku.
Doku changed the change against Everton off the bench and reminded Pep Guardiola of his quality as an impact substitute.
Pep Guardiola says it’s “unfair” that Jeremy Doku hasn’t featured much recently
Ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming contest against Aston Villa, Pep Guardiola admitted that Doku should have featured a lot more than he has in recent weeks — failing to start in the last three Premier League games: “I’ve been so unfair with him in the last games because I remember the games against Spurs away, before Spurs played here and Brighton, for example, without him, it would not be possible.”
Pep Guardiola explained that his decision not to play £55.5 million man Doku was solely due to the fact that he decided to reserve his attacking threat from his midfielders.
“But the only reason that he did not play, today [against Everton] but lately because we didn’t attack in the last games with the wingers.”
“We put more full-backs wide and more players in the middle. Like Bournemouth [in the FA Cup quarter-final], other players but was no reason to not play those games, it’s only my reason. I feel sorry for him and the other ones.”
Pep Guardiola gave Doku an individual coaching session after his cameo against Manchester United and he admitted that unlike his display against the Red Devils, he starred against Everton.
“But today, the impact has been much, much better than Old Trafford [in the 0-0 draw against Manchester United]. Old Trafford, was not good but today, the impact was…you know, have the ball, drop the team, arrive at the byline because Jeremy in the final third is unstoppable. He is an incredible, incredible football player and I’m really pleased that today, he played really good.”
Should Jeremy Doku start for Manchester City vs Aston Villa?
After his comments, whether Pep Guardiola starts Doku against Aston Villa will be something Manchester City fans will be waiting to see.
The Catalan’s team selection is known to be very unpredictable and it come as no surprise if he decided to bench the Belgian despite publicly singing his praises.
While Jack Grealish is happy at Manchester City, he has clearly fallen out of favour under Pep Guardiola while Savinho’s best position is on the right-wing.
As a result, it seems like a no-brainer for Doku to return to the starting XI against Aston Villa.
