Jeremy Doku injury update and Omar Marmoush opinions – Every Word from Part Two of Pep Guardiola’s post-Chelsea press conference | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has issued a development on the injury sustained by Jeremy Doku in recent weeks, ahead of a huge week and upcoming schedule of matches for the club.

The Premier League champions found themselves behind inside 120 seconds after new signing Abdukodir Khusanov presented the ball to Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson, allowing the striker to square the ball to Noni Madueke for a simple tap-in.

Josko Gvardiol would get the hosts level and heading into the half-time interval with the score tied at 1-1, only for Erling Haaland and Phil Foden to secure all three points for Manchester City, taking them up to fourth in the Premier League table.

Next up for Manchester City is a mammoth Champions League clash at home to Club Brugge that would see the club secure a last-16 play-off place with a win over the Belgian side, before turning attentions to an away trip against Arsenal in the Premier League next Sunday.

Speaking after Manchester City’s 3-1 comeback win over Chelsea on Saturday evening, here is every single word from the boss on a number of subjects during part two of his post-match press conference!

On really needing John Stones due to injury problems

“Absolutely! The problem is we continue with the problems. [Abdukodir] Khusanov should not have played; he had to take time to do it.

“It’s not easy against Chelsea in the Premier League, coming from another country and not communicating much with his mates and arriving with no training sessions to see what you want to do, what the process you have, and the other ones.

“So it’s not easy, and to start in that way he started; imagine all of us living what Khusanov has lived and what happened happened, it would be, ‘Oh God!’ But the situation is Ruben (Dias) is not there, Nathan (Ake) neither so that’s why we are lucky that Manu (Akanji) stayed and John can help us for our final on Wednesday.”

On John Stones’ season

“John always had these kind of situations. Except the year of the Treble that he was incredibly reliable, always he struggled, the same with Nathan (Ake). This is the point; that’s why we went to the market!

“I would not like to go to the market in this period, but we have a lot of examples that they cannot sustain every three days, three days, three days playing, playing, playing – this is the problem.”

On what John Stones brings

“Listen, our process is not good, right? Because Rodri is not there. Manu (Akanji) plays really good there, and John (Stones) plays good there but it was Rodri there, alongside them. That’s why football it depends on the connections of the players.

“It’s not about putting them here, and you will play good because you are playing good in the past, no. Before the process was more clever, easier, more everything. Now John I struggle to see there, due to the injuries.

“I prefer to see him at the back, because as a defender, especially reading situations, he’s so, so good. But I don’t have any doubts of John, and even Nathan (Ake), but they have not been here, and last season they had not been here neither.

“So this is the problem; there are players that are reliable and the other ones have more injuries than other ones. But hopefully now, this time, recover better, give him more time for his problems, playing 45 minutes against Tottenham, 45 minutes against United, and out, out, out and he played I think really good in 35, 40 minutes (against Chelsea) and had to make an effort for Wednesday.

“And we’ll give time for Nathan, and Ruben (Dias) coming back as quick as possible. So the situation is tough, continues being tough.”

On playing John Stones on Wednesday being less of a risk

“Listen, he has to play except if he said to me, ‘Ah problems, I cannot play’. After that, Josko (Gvardiol) will be the central defender and I will invent and think about what to play at the full-back.

“But the reality is if he can play, Josko at left-back, and now Matheus (Nunes) is getting better, getting better each game in terms of speed and concentration. So that’s why… So he’s massively important in our game on Wednesday, so that’s why hopefully he can help us.

“But we’ll see in the next games. We are lucky we’ve had four games because after Ipswich, three days Paris, three days Chelsea, it has been really, really tough emotionally after Paris, like the performance was not really good, or I would say they were brilliant.

“So recover in that way, they showed me again how I’m not wrong at all to rely on these players that gave us so much in this decade.”

On Omar Marmoush’s debut

“It was not easy; (Reece) James was there man-marking. So James, when he’s fit is so strong, so fast. But he made incredible runs and movements that we could not see him. But I think he’s a calm guy, and has pace, the shot, the aggression. He’s intelligent in defending. So I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”

On Jeremy Doku’s injury

“A while… I don’t know how much, but a while, yeah. He will not be ready for Wednesday, for sure. I don’t think so for Arsenal, so. I think, we’ll see.”