Wilfried Bony questions Manuel Pellegrini’s decision to drop him

If losing a potentially crucial match in the Premier League title race were not bad enough, Manuel Pellegrini has now had his selection policy called into question by one of his Manchester City players.

Wilfried Bony said he was disappointed to have been dropped for Monday’s 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, intimating that it was wrong Sergio Agüero came in for him given the Argentinian had been sidelined for some time with an injury.

Bony had started in three of City’s four matches after Agüero injured a heel in the 3-1 win against Southampton on 28 November, and scored three times, with his most recent goal coming against his former club Swansea in City’s last match before they travelled to the Emirates. The 28-year-old, perhaps reasonably, expected he would retain his place but was instead on the bench, with Agüero starting as the visitors’ lone forward. The Argentina striker looked rusty and it came as no surprise when he was replaced by Bony on 63 minutes.

''I’m disappointed that I didn’t start,” Bony said. “I’m not the coach. The coach does what he thinks is best for the team. He just has to choose 11 players. So when I come on I just try to do my best to try to score or to give an assist to the other players to score to help the team to win.”

Asked if he thought he deserved to have started, Bony replied: “I think so.” It was then put to the Ivorian that Agüero’s return for such a high-profile match was understandable given his talents and track record, to which the 27-year-old added somewhat bluntly: “He [Agüero] is coming back from injury. He hasn’t played for a couple of weeks.” It is actually a little more than three weeks.

Bony’s disgruntlement is something Pellegrini may have to address before City’s Boxing Day home game with Sunderland given the player could be required to start if Agüero, as appears the case, remains short of match fitness. The manager also needs to galvanise his team as a whole following their showing against Arsenal. The visitors dominated possession but were undone by their own defensive sloppiness and bluntness in attack, leading to a fifth league defeat of the season and a side many tipped to win the title finding themselves in third place, four points behind Arsenal and six points behind the leaders, Leicester City, going into the Christmas period.

''We can’t be happy, we can’t be pleased,” Bacary Sagna said after the defeat by the City right-back’s former club. “We can say we played well but we lost. So at the end of the day they have three points and we have none. I think we have to learn. But we are still involved in all competitions and I am looking forward to the next game.”

It is possible that Vincent Kompany will return against Sunderland having trained with the rest of the City squad in recent days. The club captain has been out of action since early November with a calf strain.