And it isn’t because he’s injured…
Pep Guardiola has revealed why Vincent Kompany hasn’t been getting into the Manchester City team.
The captain has been being saved for cup games, and this is because Guardiola prefers ball-playing centre-backs.
This is the reason he has been opting to play John Stones and Aleksander Kolarov, despite Kolarov not being a natural central defender.
“It’s not about that, I think he’s fit now,” said Guardiola. “I’m so happy. For three or four weeks, he’s trained.
“The reason why he didn’t play, like Nico Otamendi, against Swansea, was because we knew that Fernando Llorente is a striker but was going to mark Yaya Toure, so our central defenders would be free without the ball and we needed two guys with good build-up.
“On the left side, Kolarov is really good for the passes on the other side, the passes inside, and John Stones had the qualities to make build out from the back as well. That is the reason why.
“We knew that in the first half, we were going to defend far away from our box, they are going to use not too much counter-attacking.
“That’s why it was not necessary to have central defenders in the box defending a lot of crosses.
“But Vincent, I’m so delighted and happy he’s back, because I know how well he can play, and of course we are going to use him in some special games.”
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
