When Manchester City pressed pause on their hunt for four trophies last month, their strongest team appeared pretty settled - barring injuries.
Erling Haaland, obviously, leads the line, with the in-form Jack Grealish on the left wing and Phil Foden striking up a dangerous partnership with Kevin De Bruyne on the right. Bernardo Silva provided the energy in the City midfield alongside De Bruyne, with Rodri undroppable just behind them.
Ederson is another obvious pick, with Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker the strongest full-back combination. That leaves the five centre-back options to compete for two spots - with Ruben Dias, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte all elite options, but Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji arguably the form partnership.
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Now, with the World Cup bringing out the best of some of Pep Guardiola's stars, and proving a little more difficult for others, that strongest XI might have changed a little.
For example, in defence, Stones has been brilliant for England, while Ake has been an underrated part of the Netherlands' run to the quarter-finals, and Akanji has taken his club form to Qatar. That's not to say Dias and Laporte have been poor, far from it, although simply playing well and consistently doesn't guarantee a starting spot in Guardiola's defence anymore.
Rodri wouldn't get dropped from Guardiola's best XI, however he has played every game at the World Cup in defence, and the return of Kalvin Phillips offers another option for City to consider. Similarly, De Bruyne is a guaranteed starter in the big games, yet he failed to drag Belgium through a nightmare group stage as he has done so many times for City.
And Ilkay Gundogan couldn't prevent Germany from exiting at the group stage, despite being Hansi Flick's go-to man in midfield. Could that open up a stronger role for Bernardo, even if he's played wider for Portugal than he is with City? Or does Gundogan's extra rest give him the edge when the City games resume.
Alternatively, could Bernardo's energy for Portugal open up more of a role for him on the right wing? Foden has shown for England how effective he can be on the left, even if City knew that already. Maybe returning Foden to the left when the Premier League returns could get the best out of him in the coming months.
That would mean dropping Grealish, who hasn't done anything wrong for City or England recently. Yet again, though, he might suffer from others being slightly more effective in his position, so will hope for some more game time with England in the last-eight and potentially beyond.
So with Foden possibly better on the left, there is a space on the right. Riyad Mahrez will have had six weeks off, and has a point to prove, while Julian Alvarez has two in two from the wing for Argentina - bringing out the best of Lionel Messi in the process. Grealish and Bernardo could be options on the right, too.
Guardiola will return from his holidays to Abu Dhabi and Catalonia for City's warm-weather training for those players not at the World Cup this week. He has had time to switch off, sign a new contract, and also to assess City's start to the season. He may even have watched some of the action in Qatar.
If he has, he may consider some small positional changes for his players to help City through an intense schedule around the New Year.
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