Foden and Cherki ‘a real option’ says Pep | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola says he wouldn’t hesitate naming Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki in his starting XI.

The attacking pair both enjoy an advanced central role with freedom to roam and create, but injuries have restricted the opportunity for them both to play regularly.

But the City boss says playing both - rather than either or - is a definite and likely possibility depending on the opponents.

“Of course it’s a real option during the season to play them together, like Omar and Erling,” said Pep.

“As much as it’s good to have an alternative, you have to realise what you need to play in the Premier League.

“Some opponents and their physicality, especially the first half against Villa, we saw it perfectly.

“We weren’t solid enough to sustain it, they will learn, the effort from Phil and Rayan,

"I’m not going to ask the players to not play a [certain] way, but there’s a minimum to sustain the team otherwise you create problems.

“When we have a lot of players who need to be creative, I think I said after Villa, this is the challenge we have to find ourselves. We will find it.”

And on the eve of what could be Foden’s 200th Premier League game, Guardiola was asked how much he’d enjoyed watching him flourish during his time as manager.

“It’s an honour for me to have seen these games close to him,” said Pep.

“The impact he’s made for the club of his heart, it’s a good milestone especially at his age, I’d say.”

Asked whether he felt Foden deserved an England recall, Pep added: “That's for Thomas. He has to play as best as possible, contention it's not easy, English players in that position are fantastic.

“He has to play well every day, then Thomas will decide what’s best for the national team.”

And when questioned on how he felt Oscar Bobb’s season was going, he replied: “Considering last season when he was out with a tough injury, he started well.

“He played the first two or three games then wasn’t available.

“He has to believe and the moment he believes it himself he’ll make the next step in his career.”

City v Bournemouth app coverage

Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from our latest Premier League showdown from one place.

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at 15:15 (UK).Cel Spellman will be joined in the studio by Luke Stanley and Steven McInerney.

During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Clive Allen while our text commentary continues.

Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.

We’ll have a quick-hit 2-minute highlights package available at 20:15 (UK), while you can sign-in to watch a free 8-minute edit at midnight.

On CITY+ meanwhile, there’ll be our popular full-match replay as well as our new extended highlights offering which features the best 20 minutes of action from the game. Both are also available at midnight.

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