Pep Guardiola discusses team selection, Sergio Agüero benching

Reporters are highly focused on the second straight benching of Manchester City striker Sergio Agüero.

Pep Guardiola has made it clear that he is highly conscious of the implications of his decision making. It appears that the difficulty of the decisions resting on his shoulders has been beneficial to the club.

“I understand that it must not be easy,” Pep said. “Sergio will be so, so important. He’s going to play a lot of games — with Gabriel, without Gabriel.

It is not hard to imagine frequent, high-quality rotations of the City squad in coming months. With Agüero, Kelechi Iheanacho and others getting rest, a functional substitution system is easy to imagine.

After they asked about the immediate success of Gabriel Jesus, reporters focused a lot on Agüero’s status. One member of the media asked how El Kun reacted to the news of being left out of the starting XI.

Pep replied, “It was perfect. Don’t worry about it.” With constant rumors about a move to Real Madrid or elsewhere circulating since the fall, Guardiola was a bit sly in his terse response. Then, he made it clear that he understands how his decisions effect the young men he manages.

“Of course he wants to play, just like all the guys.”

The manager’s compassion is obvious. Hopefully his work with the team allows them to successfully rotate in order to activate the immense qualities of everyone on the squad, including Agüero.