Pep Guardiola is waiting for Joao Cancelo to show him how good he is at Manchester City .
The Manchester City manager had praised Phil Foden and a number of players for their performances at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final. He made eight changes from the team that had downed Real Madrid, including young midfielder / winger / whatever-he-wants-to-be Foden and was delighted with the reaction.
“All the players who played against Madrid could have played against Aston Villa but I thought I needed something fresh – not just legs and mentally but the desire, “ he said .
“I needed them angry to show me that I was wrong not to select them against Madrid, for them to want to show me and themselves how good they are, and they did it.
“I like them to play as much as possible. If they follow me it’s not a problem, if they don’t follow me they have a problem – their problem, not my problem. After that there is no more I can do. “
If John Stones and Aleks Zinchenko were notable names on the Wembley teamsheet having been left out of the matchday squad for Madrid entirely, one member of the 18 for the Champions League match had slipped out by Sunday.
Not just any player either but Cancelo, a player City thought worthy of spending £ 90 m on from Juventus to challenge Kyle Walker when they would not pay a penny over £ 70 m to bring in Harry Maguire as either a replacement for Vincent Kompany or just added cover at the back in case they suffered a serious injury.
Cancelo’s start to life in Manchester has not been happy. After declaring his wish to oust Walker in his opening press conference, the former Juventus defender featured so little that there was talk of a move away from the club in January – which Guardiola did little to play down.
His last start for the club came six games ago in the 1-0 defeat at home to United in the second leg of the league cup semi; the last of his seven league starts was 18 days previous in the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Guardiola had little interest in elaborating when asked about the defender’s absence at Wembley. He pointed to Stones and Zinchenko not being included for Madrid when asked about Cancelo’s exclusion, and then pointed to Stones again when it was pointed out that £ 60 m is a lot to spend on a player you don’t consider among your best 18 for a cup final.
When asked about the reaction to Cancelo not playing against Real Madrid and how he can get himself into the squad or even the team for important fixtures, the manager echoed his earlier words about the importance of following his instructions.
“Be himself, open-minded, listen, try to do his best,” he began. “We are here to help him. The normal things I want for all the players. It depends on him. I can suggest but the players have to decide the rest.”
Wednesday’s FA Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday would appear an opportune fixture for the Portugal international to show Guardiola why he should be putting him in the team. Walker has started the last six games and will surely be trusted against at least United, Arsenal and Real Madrid in the upcoming games if not Burnley as well.
If Cancelo does not start at Hillsborough, it will be his problem more than Guardiola’s.
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