Pep Guardiola U-turn in Man City press conference speaks volumes as he finds four regulars for the future

Manchester City looked as good as they have done all season vs Newcastle - helped by three of their four January signings.

Omar Marmoush and Pep Guardiola

There was something on Pep Guardiola's face as he spoke to the media on Saturday evening: a smile.

It was all doom and gloom heading into Manchester City's dismantling of Newcastle. Guardiola, for the first time, offered a comprehensive breakdown of all City's failings this season. Age, tempo, mistakes, injuries. The lot.

Having spent so long this season defending his players and insisting they can still turn things around, he changed the conversation to accept that the time for saving the season has gone and City are now 'playing for their future'.

If his players were listening, they responded to his message against Newcastle. Fast forward 24 hours from Guardiola's pessimistic message, and his next chat with reporters was completely the opposite.

He loved Omar Marmoush's performance, explaining how the movement of the Egyptian unlocked something different in City's play. "He's young, he comes here to make his career," said Guardiola.

And that movement Guardiola mentioned offered Ederson an outlet to go long to devastating effect. As the players emerged from the dressing room at half-time, Ederson and Marmoush held a conversation in the tunnel, plotting a way to get the goalkeeper a second assist of the game.

Marmoush's hat-trick understandably and deservedly gets the headlines but Guardiola was keen to talk up the contributions of two more January signings for their role vs Newcastle - and their promise of being part of City's future.

Nico Gonzalez was City's 'mini Rodri', Guardiola said, and can be a transformative midfielder for years to come. Guardiola revealed his long-term admiration for the 23-year-old from his days in La Masia, Barcelona's famed academy, and City's failed attempts to get him to swap Catalonia for the City Football Academy.

"I think he can play in both [number six and eight] positions," Guardiola said. "In Barcelona, he played more number eight, that means he's a guy who arrives to the box, he has the ability to dribble. To play in that position, you have to mentally prepare to play there, in front of the central defenders, but the role that Gundo' has done in the treble year, and the quadruple, that can make an attacking midfielder, holding midfielder, this double position, he can do it perfectly.

"So, he can do with Rodri, that shape to go forward and back, he can help us."

Guardiola couldn't hide the smile when discussing Gonzalez, and is clearly delighted to have finally got his man. Not only did Gonzalez look like a veteran in Guardiola's system on his Premier League debut, the manager clearly feels he has found a midfield solution for the next decade or so.

On that topic, Guardiola's revelation that he personally added Erling Haaland to the City captaincy group was unexpected. Guardiola explained that he made the intervention on the back of Haaland's nine-year contract extension, predicting that the striker will be a future captain.

And with Abdukodir Khusanov thrust into a second Premier League start given the injuries to Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Manu Akanji, Guardiola's smile returned when asked about the youngster's impressive performance following his tricky debut vs Chelsea.

"He's so aggressive in the one-against-one, so apparently it's a foul with him," Guardiola said of Khusanov's tendency to concede fouls. "With a central defender with prestigious [reputation], that it will not be a foul. It was not easy, right? The first day against Chelsea, everybody, you know what happened in the first minutes, it's not easy for a player from Uzbekistan or France to come here.

"And since then he didn't play, today plays again for the circumstances of Ruben, Manu and Nathan, and so on, should play. It's really good for him, for all of us, the potential that we visualise. His composure with the ball, and he's so extremely fast. When he has to run with [Alexander] Isak, he can handle it, he's so fast, the decision-making has to improve, but it's a question of age.

"But most important, he settled really, really well. He's so shy, don't talk much. I think he will help us a lot, he settled really good with the team, and the same, like Nico, they are so young, like Vitor [Reis], they are so young, and for the next years we have players that Manchester City can develop, and perform well."

Khusanov only played due to injuries, Gonzalez was a late fitness doubt himself, and Marmoush was arguably only brought in to allow Kevin De Bruyne a rest ahead of Real Madrid. All three left lasting impressions on Guardiola.

After painting the bleakest of pictures on Friday and teasing a summer overhaul because his players have run out of steam, it took just 90 minutes and three performances to offer Guardiola a reason to smile again