Two months ago, Pep Guardiola had a ‘problem’ with Joao Cancelo, who was not happy about sitting on the bench. He was shipped to Bayern Munich for a loan. Everybody was surprised that one of Pep’s most loyal defenders was suddenly moved to the bench. And how we have another surprise. The other full-back, Kyle Walker, a steady England international and a regular starter in Manchester City’s team, started only two of City’s past seven matches. And Guardiola clarified the reason – tactics. Known as a tactical freak, the Spanish coach is used to changing formations, and doing one of them, he decided to move his regular player to the bench, as he doesn’t fit into the system. “Walker cannot do it. To play inside you have to make some educated movements. He has other characteristics. He will always have pace. He will be the fastest in this room at 60 years old. The reason why is tactical. It’s not because we lost faith in Kyle. He can play coming inside and he has done it many times, but like in the position against Liverpool with Rodri and John, he will maybe need time to do it and we don’t have time” said Guardiola. Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko played the inverted role, which allowed Walker, who has 75 England caps, to slot in on the right of a back three when they pushed into midfield. But both players are now gone, and John Stones has been favoured to that position. And Walker, as well as all other players, got a stern warning from their coach. “What they have to do is two things. Don’t complain or there will be a problem. And try to do it better and better so when I need them, they will be ready. Look at Nathan this season. Last season he didn’t play one minute and now he is undroppable. It happens. Nobody has a guarantee with me. They have to earn it and sometimes we need a different shape for the way we build up or defend. Some players adapt better than the other ones. They take it personally but we are not against them. We just need something and try to use it” said Guardiola.
