Some City players might be unhappy but they proved Pep right vs Southampton

Pep Guardiola pulled no punches when speaking to the media ahead of Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final clash with Southampton. It's perfectly normal for players to feel unhappy at not playing regularly, but to hear a manager openly admit it more than once isn't so common.

Correctly predicting a Guardiola starting XI can be nigh-on impossible at times, but the Catalan head coach has looked to stick with a settled side where possible in recent weeks. Erling Haaland is an automatic pick to lead the line and Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku, and Antoine Semenyo are the favoured trio to support him. There has been the occasional shift for Nico O'Reilly that has allowed for some rotation, but by and large Guardiola has stuck by the same side.

A cup clash against lower league opposition - albeit opposition in very good form - afforded Guardiola the chance to shuffle his pack and offer some of the players on the fringes of the action in recent weeks a chance to show they could play a key role in the run-in.

That a regular starter in Jeremy Doku looked like one of the best players on the pitch after coming off the bench tells you everything you need to know about how the selection experiment unfolded.

Omar Marmoush endured one of his most frustrating outings in a City shirt. His finishing was wayward and he caused the linesman's flag as much trouble as he did Daniel Peretz in the Southampton goal.

Phil Foden looked off the pace as his underwhelming campaign continued. In 2023/24 he was crowned Premier League Player of the Season and looked a shoo-in to be the first name on the England team sheet for years to come. Now, he looks unlikely to even be named in their squad in North America this summer.

Tijjani Reijnders enjoyed an explosive start to his City career but has struggled to reach those same heights since. While the likes of Nathan Ake, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic performed well at Wembley, others failed to take their chance.

With five league games remaining in the title race and an FA Cup final to come, Saturday was the last opportunity for Guardiola to rest some of his key players ahead of the run-in. Now, it's full pelt to the finish line.

Chances will have to be earnt, and there certainly won't be any room for sentiment. Saturday did little to suggest Guardiola might need to have a rethink over his favoured starting XI.

That might leave some players unhappy, but there are trophies to be won.