Ilkay Gundogan admits it is “never easy” to sit on the bench but called for his Manchester City teammates to look at their snub in a different light.
Both Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne were left out of the starting XI in City’s 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Sunday. The pair came on in the second half but couldn’t prevent the Blues from suffering their fourth league defeat of the season.
This came after Joao Cancelo’s loan exit to Bayern Munich for the rest of the season following his supposed negative reactions to being left out of the team. Speaking to Sky Sports, Gundogan hinted that some in the City squad have found it hard to be left out of the starting line-up.
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However, he urged those who are benched to remind themselves that they can still have an influence on games, even when they don’t start them from the off. Asked whether there has been a dip at the club, the Germany international said: “Maybe in terms of some players who didn’t expect it and had to deal with the situation first.
“Because it’s never easy to sit three or four games in a row on the bench and not be able to have an impact. I have lived that myself.
“But we need to know also that we have a big squad. We have players who can step up at any moment so everyone has to be on their best for every single game, whether you are on the pitch or off the pitch.
“Maybe to understand that takes a little bit of time but after that I truly believe the impact of these players coming back into the team can be bigger.” Gundogan - whose contract expires this summer - has been benched 10 times this season, failing to come on at all on four occasions.
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