I should have faced Arsenal, claims Wilfried Bony
The Ivory Coast striker had scored three in four games while City’s talismanic forward Sergio Aguero was missing with a heel injury.
But Aguero was declared fit ahead of the clash at the Emirates Stadium and came straight into a side that was then beaten 2-1 by the Gunners.
With manager Manuel Pellegrini’s position already under increased speculation given Pep Guardiola’s announcement he will be leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, City have now failed to win away in the Premier League since mid-September.
And Bony has heaped more pressure on his manager after claiming he should have been tasked with leading the line at Arsenal instead of coming on around the hour-mark as an ineffectual Aguero departed.
When asked if he deserved to be playing, the former Swansea forward said: “I think so.
“He (Aguero) is coming back from injury. He hasn’t played for a couple of weeks. I’m disappointed today that I didn’t start but I’m not the coach.
He also revealed he would talk to Pellegrini about his position amid speculation regarding his own future.
“That’s my feeling today,” he said, when asked if he would air his views to his manager.
“We have lost the game so we just have to be ready for the next game. I will continue to work hard and think about the next game.”
Bony was then asked if it summed up where he was in Pellegrini’s thinking if he was dropped as soon as Aguero was deemed fit enough to start.
“That’s what I mean,” he said.
“Everyone on the team wants to play but the coach has to choose 11 players. Bony did refute claims talk of Guardiola taking charge at City in the summer was causing a distraction and does not feel the players are lacking belief.
When asked if City were losing confidence, he replied: “I don’t think so.
“We didn’t play well. I think they deserved to win. I think we will find our way in the next game so we just have to think about that.
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