Man City 3-1 Chelsea: Was Guardiola right to start Abdukodir Khusanov? Did Pep's "gamble" pay off?

Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany feels that Pep Guardiola's "gamble" to start Abdukodir Khusanov against Chelsea "didn't pay off", but the defender's difficult debut will have done him "no real harm".

The Citizens confirmed the arrival of three new signings prior to their 3-1 Premier League win over Chelsea on Saturday, and two of those - to the surprise of many - were handed their full debuts by Guardiola.

While attacker Omar Marmoush made a promising impact during his first Man City appearance, Khusanov endured a nightmare start to life at the Etihad Stadium, as his error gifted Noni Madueke the opening goal for Chelsea with just three minutes on the clock, before he was booked for a late challenge just a minute later.

The 20-year-old Uzbek defender, signed from Lens for a reported £33.5m just six days prior to Saturday's game, was plunged straight into Guardiola's starting lineup, even though he had only taken part in one training session with his new teammates and "doesn't speak English" according to the Catalan coach.

City are currently having to cope without injured defenders Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake, while John Stones has only recently recovered from a spell on the sidelines, and Guardiola did not want to "push" the Englishman with one eye on next Wednesday's crucial Champions League clash with Club Brugge - a game that both Khusanov and fellow new signing Vitor Reis are ineligible for.

Khusanov, who played alongside Manuel Akanji, was eventually replaced by Stones early in the second half and Man City rallied to victory over Chelsea courtesy of goals from Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, climbing into the top four of the Premier League table.

'In an ideal world, Khusanov would never be playing against Chelsea'

"It is not easy for him... It is a process when you buy a player this young. He will learn. These kinds of actions are the best lesson you can take," Guardiola told reporters after the match, before admitting that the defender "should not have played" against Chelsea.

McInerney understands why Guardiola opted to hand Khusanov his full debut, while he has also pointed out that the decision to select Gvardiol as an advanced full-back was "justified".

"I don't really think he had too much choice if I'm being honest," McInerney told Sports Mole. "You could argue that Guardiola maybe could have pushed [Josko] Gvardiol [into central defence] and played Rico Lewis at left-back, but when you look at the impact of Gvardiol on the game and how key he was to the tactical setups, ultimately you can say it was justified.

"In an ideal world, Khusanov would never be playing [against Chelsea]. You could argue, that maybe [starting Jahmai] Simpson-Pusey, who's played for the first team before, understands it, would make sense.

"But Guardiola said prior to the game that Khusanov was fit, he was playing in the French league, which is full of physical, fast players, is a perfect schooling ground for the Premier League in general, and he sort of had to just throw him in a little bit."

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Guardiola "gamble" has done Khusanov "no real harm"

"I think he both sank and swam at the same time," McInerney added. "I think the reaction to it has been quite sweet. It's been quite overwhelmingly positive towards him from the City fans.

"I do understand the argument to suggest that maybe it wasn't the most sensible decision to start him, I get that, but City had no Dias, no Ake, John Stones could only come on (as a substitute) and his injuries have been so bad this season. If you look at the bench, Rico Lewis, Vitor Reis - the other young signing who's 19 years old, it wasn't going to be him.

"Maybe Nico O'Reilly could have played at left-back, like he did against Salford, with Gvardiol playing centre-back, but once again, Guardiola decided that Gvardiol would be too important to the system that we were going to try and play. It worked and he decided that he would trust his new £30m defender from the French league.

"Ultimately, we spent a lot of money on him, he's 20 years old but he's not a baby as such - he's very young don't get me wrong - but he's got senior experience and he's played in the Champions League.

"Guardiola took a bit of a gamble it didn't fully pay off, but I would argue that it's done no real harm and it was okay in the end."

Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.