Pep Guardiola and the case for Man City's defence

For Fantasy Football fans, the term “Pep Roulette” has been termed to describe the consistent rotation of Guardiola’s side.

At Manchester City previous seasons have been more synonymous with his attacking players, but this season only Rodri, Ederson and Erling Haaland have avoided such rotation. Gary Neville last week criticised the constant tinkering of Guardiola with his defence, with the latest tinker being a back three of Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker against Villa.

We take a look at the defensive options and how Guardiola might be looking to use what's available to him for the rest of the season.

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When looking back at title-winning sides, centre-back rotation is not common, but Dias, Laporte, Stones, Ake and Akanji have all failed to nail down starting berths, due to both injuries and inconsistent performances.

Guardiola has justified his rotation, as he said, “I would love to have the same back four but they cannot handle it.” The persistent injuries of the centre-backs are evidence of such a problem.

When all fit, Guardiola does have a selection dilemma. Dias, Stones and Laporte are arguably the highest-quality defenders and prior to Stones’ latest injury, he was spoken of as one of the best defenders in Europe.

When Dias joined City in 2020, he was a key leader in securing back-to-back titles. He has suffered from a hamstring problem this season, but when available, he has not always started, but his leadership has been missed.

Similarly, Laporte has suffered injuries, but when available has been in and out of the side.

The injuries to Stones, Dias and Laporte has given Ake and Akanji plenty of gametime, but they lack the quality of