Why doesn't Guardiola trust Manchester City's academy products?
Sean Dyche wasn't spoilt for choice. Nine players were unavailable for Burnley due to injury, but Dyche was able to name seven substitutes for Saturday's match. Aiden O'Neill, an Australian teenager who's recently returned from a loan spell with League One's Fleetwood Town, rounded off Burnley's backup.
Pep Guardiola, the overseer of a £448-million outlay in 19 months at Manchester City, selected six players on his bench. Of the seven in the Etihad Campus treatment room, only Phil Foden isn't a first-team regular. But for a club of City's stature, it's alarming that Guardiola was only able to name six substitutes. Not because of the concentration of the injuries - attacking players are the dominant party undergoing treatment - but for such a startling mistrust of the country's most luxuriant academy.
City's £200-million base was opened with the aim of having a fully homegrown team by 2027. Admirable stuff, and those quick to criticise the club's youth policy fail to acknowledge that its October 2014 opening means some players who started their education at the academy may be as young as 10. The investment's returns can't be truly judged until cycles - from a child beginning his career at the club, to being old enough for senior recognition - are completed.
But the early signs are not good. If Guardiola's decision not to fill his quota was a statement intended to display how thin his squad currently is, it was a selfish move and one that robbed a young player of valuable experience in a matchday squad.
"We would like to have 18 players not 17, but the others are injured (and) that's why we came with less players," Guardiola said after the match.
However, he wasn't being entirely truthful.
Tyreke Wilson and Marcus Wood were both unused substitutes for the under-23s the previous day, and the gifted under-18 contingent had a weekend off, freeing up the team's joint-top scorer Keyendrah Simmonds and Colin Rosler, son of City legend Uwe. An academy kid didn't have to play - and the nature of the 1-1 draw at Turf Moor would've made it a tough initiation - but an introduction to the routines and intensity of a Premier League match would have been hugely beneficial to his development.
This isn't a unique incident. There has been a general reluctance to hand chances to youngsters who are benefitting from some of the best coaching and training in Europe. When Leroy Sane fell victim to a crunching challenge from Cardiff City's Joe Bennett in last Sunday's FA Cup clash, an opportunity opened up for Brahim Diaz and, when fit, Foden to fill in, and perhaps even stake a claim to become a common fixture in the senior fold.
Diaz and Foden are No. 10s, so they arguably don't have a natural role in Guardiola's 4-3-3. That hasn't stopped the Spanish tactician, though, with Foden featuring at left wing-back against Shakhtar Donetsk in December. Diaz was also regularly deployed on the wing for the youth team to allow himself and Foden to be fielded at the same time. They could've been the chief competitors behind Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, and Raheem Sterling while Sane, Gabriel Jesus, and (infrequent false nine) David Silva are out.
City instead tried to perform a late January swoop for Riyad Mahrez, greatly unsettling Leicester City's winger to the extent that he's skipped training and missed his club's last two matches. The Blues were willing to part with a sum exceeding £50 million for the Algerian, and if Leicester didn't price the league leader out of a transfer - the northwest powerhouse was apparently quoted a £95-million asking price - it's likely he would have been the player to replace Sterling after his inexcusable miss from 2 yards out. Diaz, the 18-year-old who joined the academy in 2013, was the player to profit from Mahrez's collapsed switch.
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City supporters are desperate to see an academy creation make waves in the first team. There hasn't been a local product since Michael Johnson, and those who have been schooled at City despite being from overseas - Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia, for example - were given derisory time with the seniors before being sent out on loan. With the investment and target to have a fully homegrown team in under 10 years, blooding academy lads needs to be treated with more urgency. Leaving a spare substitute spot is unacceptable.
It's quite fitting that one of Burnley's standout players on Saturday was Ben Mee, the dependable captain during Manchester City's triumphant run for the 2008 FA Youth Cup. The 28-year-old is one of the best defenders outside the Premier League's top six, but never made a league appearance for City.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)