Pep Guardiola explains his decision to bench Erling Haaland for Manchester City's game against Aston Villa, stating that it is a rest and rotation strategy.
Pep Guardiola insists that Erling Haaland is only being rested after the Manchester City boss named him on the bench for their crucial game against Aston Villa .
But speaking to TNT Sports ahead of Wednesday's Premier League match, Guardiola was asked if his decision to bench both Haaland and team-mate Kevin De Bruyne was merely down to managing their minutes. "Yeah," the City boss replied. "In two-and-a-half days we have another game at 12:30 . Guardiola had hit back at Keane's criticisim during his press conference on Tuesday, saying: "He's the best striker in the world. He helped us win last season and the reason why we didn't create many answers from Erling is we need more presence in the final third with more people.
He added: "Some actions he missed, sometimes it's the managers, sometimes the opponent is really good, there are many many reasons. In football there is not just one reason, sometimes where you have success or you don't have success, there are many reasons, it's football, it's a team sport."In the City starting XI, however, was Jack Grealish, who received an on-pitch grilling from Guardiola after failing to make an impact against Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola Erling Haaland Manchester City Aston Villa Bench Rest Rotation Premier League
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