Pep Guardiola Plans Rotation as Omar Marmoush Gains Ground
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will rotate in the next games, and omar marmoush is pushing into that plan after another useful showing off the bench. The City manager tied the move to fitness for the final stretch and said he will wait for Arsenal’s result before finalizing selection.
Guardiola's rotation plan
“I know it’s not easy for them but I’m pretty sure the next games, they are going to play and I’m going to rotate the team because otherwise we cannot arrive at the final or Bournemouth [in good shape]. We’ll see the result [of the West Ham v Arsenal game] and after, we take a decision,” Guardiola said after Manchester City’s win over Brentford. That leaves several regulars on notice as City move through a run of games where selection could change from one match to the next.
Guardiola also pointed to the club’s recent stability. City had used a settled side over the previous two months or so, but he said that kind of consistency cannot run all the way through the finish without changes. He linked the next team decisions to Arsenal’s result, which means the lineup for the coming matches will not be set until that outcome is known.
Marmoush and Foden off the bench
Marmoush came on for Rayan Cherki on Saturday, and a minute later Jeremy Doku scored Manchester City’s opening goal after Phil Foden and Marmoush had entered. Guardiola said that sequence reflected more than timing. “It’s easy to say, ‘Okay, I made the substitution, one minute [later], Jeremy put the ball in the net’. But we want energy and Omar gave us the energy and Phil gave us that. You need everyone. As much as you are fit, you can do it,” he said.
He went further on Marmoush’s role. “Especially Omar. So, it’s not easy because normally we play with just one striker. He’s a proper striker and Erling is there. Erling, I think, is so important for us. But the contribution of Omar, always [when] he played, the amount of goals and the rate for the minutes he played is so high. So it’s really good.”
Haaland and the run-in
That praise sits alongside a clear tactical note: Guardiola wants more players close to Erling Haaland when attacks come from the side. “Erling always is Erling – a threat for the opponent, set pieces, a sense of goal. Erling, we just have to bring more players close to him when they arrive from the side, have to bring more players there because after that, he will score more and more goals. When he’s alone in the box, it’s so difficult for him to score because the [defenders are] there,” he said.
For City, the immediate takeaway is selection. Guardiola has already flagged rotation, named Marmoush as a proper striker, and said Foden and Marmoush supplied the energy he wanted. If City are going to manage the run-in without losing sharpness, those minutes off the bench now look like a route into bigger roles.
