The England full-back has had to be patient of late with his last starting role coming in our FA Cup sixth round win against Burnley last month.
But asked at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Southampton about the key to Walker starting again more regularly, the boss insisted he retained every faith in the 32-year-old.
And Guardiola also pointed to the way his selection policy had worked ever since he arrived at City in 2016.
“(Kyle needs to be) Himself. Training good and he can play in the three in the back in the right is maybe the best that we have,” the City boss asserted.
“Sometimes (we are) playing Manuel (Akanji), sometimes (we are) playing John (Stones) for that reason… no specifics.
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“The reason why is a tactical reason - not because we lost the faith of Kyle.
“Look at what has happened since I arrived here. There are players (that) play and then after don’t play.
“There are players that can do it better than the other ones and that’s why they play and all they have to do is two things: no complain, they won’t be a problem or say OK, I will try to do better and when they need me, I will be ready.
“Look at Nathan (Ake) this season. Last season (he) didn’t play one minute and now he is undroppable.
“Nobody has a guarantee with me. Sometimes we need a different shape (in) the way we make a build-up or defend and some players adapt better than the other ones… it’s as simple as that.
“(If) They take it personally. It’s against them. We are not against them. We need something and we try to use it, as simple as that.”
Play the video to watch Pep’s press conference in full…
