Pep Guardiola admits he's been 'so unfair' to Man City star as he issues apology (2025)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued an apology to one of his players following his actions in recent weeks

Pep Guardiola has apologised to one of his Manchester City stars - insisting he has been "unfair". The City boss has recently made changes to his starting lineup that have left Jeremy Doku on the outside looking in.

The Belgian international has been relegated to substitute appearances by Guardiola in the last three matches, with his sole start in five coming during the triumph over Leicester. But at Everton on Saturday Doku came off the bench to change the game for City.

Doku entered the fray when the scoreline was deadlocked at 0-0, playing a pivotal role in propelling his team to a 2-0 victory.

Since the March international break, Guardiola has opted for a formation that places greater emphasis on defensive strength and midfielders skilled at retaining possession and executing a relentless sequence of short passes, allowing City to dominate games.

This shift has negatively impacted the roles of both Doku and Savinho in his starting lineup.

Guardiola acknowledged that the duo couldn't do much about the situation, although he mentioned he was particularly struck by Doku's performance off the bench at Goodison, more so than in the previous match at Old Trafford.

"I've been so unfair with him in the last games, because I remember the games against Spurs away and Brighton, for example," Guardiola admitted. "Without him it would not be possible, but the only reason that they have not played lately is because we didn't attack in the last games, with wingers - we were more full-backs wide, and more players in the middle like Bournemouth.

"But it's only my reason. I feel sorry for him and for other ones.

"But today [Saturday] the impact has been much, much better than Old Trafford. Old Trafford was not good, and here the impact was, you know, how the ball dropped the team, and his threat, arriving to the byline.

"Jeremy in the final third is unstoppable, he's an incredible, incredible football player, and I'm really pleased that today he played really good."

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