Savinho had to come off just after half-time in our New Year’s Day draw at Sunderland and was forced to spend nearly two months on the sidelines with a thigh problem.
Doku has been absent for over a month after sustaining a calf injury during our Champions League win over Galatasaray in January, an issue which forced him off in the first half after contributing to both goals in our 2-0 success.
Savinho and Doku were both recalled to the First XI for our impressive 3-1 triumph over Newcastle in the FA Cup fifth round game at St James Park with the pair excelling and the Brazilian winning the Player of the Match award.
With the return of these two, classic wide men, Guardiola says his team now have another way of approaching and playing games.
“Absolutely. We have a learned a lot because in the other way we played really good, but we didn’t have those players and without that, it is more difficult but we take good results with the other shape,” he told media post-Newcastle.
“I remember, Bodo in Norway for example, where they are so tight, so narrow inside, so tight, bring the ball inside because we didn’t have wingers who could dribble and drop them, make turns and movements in behind.
“How good Matheus [Nunes] played in the pockets today, Tijjani [Reijnders], Omar [Marmoush] how incredible their movements you know because in-between the lines, there are no spaces, Newcastle don’t allow spaces, Bodo don’t allow the spaces, especially outside so you have to attack from wide, and both were massive.
“Savinho was injured two months and Jeremy also injured for a long time and the rest, yes, Omar [Marmoush] and Antoine [Semenyo], they can do that but the rest, they are not proper, proper wingers.
“Oscar Bobb, too, was injured most of the time so that’s why today they help us a lot because without proper wingers it would have been much, much more difficult today, I would say.”
Watch the full press conference in the video player above.
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