Pep Guardiola is a rather decent player evaluator; in the past, the Manchester City manager has lavished praise on players from opposing sides of the city.

When Guardiola speaks, most people pay attention because during his tenures as manager at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City, he has trained some of the best players in the world. Since joining City in July 2016, he has experienced tremendous success, but he has also lost a fair share of games.

In January 2020, during the second leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final, one of those occurred against Manchester United. Guardiola praised five United players for their 1-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium, even though it wasn’t enough to advance to the final after the team lost the first leg 3-1.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team defeated a squad that day that included Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, and Rodri. And while five members of United’s starting lineup from that day are still with the team, five others have moved on under Erik ten Hag. Mirror Football looks at the players that Guardiola selected based on their performances here.

Maguire, Harry

That day, Maguire was positioned in the middle of a back three versus City, and after the game, Guardiola called him “one of the best central defenders in the world.” Less than six months had passed since United had spent £80 million to acquire Maguire from Leicester, which highlighted his standing at the time of the assessment.

How conditions shift. Maguire has fallen in the club’s hierarchy after commanding a transfer fee for a defender that set a record at the time. Ten Hag’s preference for Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane has been made apparent, and there have been many doubts lately about his future at the team.

Despite this, Maguire is still with United and has had a slight comeback recently, while Martinez and Varane are having trouble staying healthy. He will also be starting for England at Euro 2024 next summer and is still Gareth Southgate’s first choice.

January 2020, when Harry Maguire was at his best (Photo: Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images)(Luke Shaw, who Guardiola calls a “incredible type of player,” has been severely missed by United this season owing to injury. The left-back, who cost £30 million to acquire from Southampton in 2014, is currently United’s player with the longest tenure.Although there have been ups and downs (just look at your Jose Mourinho), Ten Hag has made the 28-year-old an important senior player by allowing him to start at center back the previous campaign.

Victor Lindelof

Victor Lindelof was praised by Pep Guardiola ( Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

At 29, Lindelof joined United in 2017 and has since played 246 games for the team. Mourinho, Solskjaer, Ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick, and the Swedish international are all solid players who have been used in a range of defensive positions. Lindelof’s tenure at the club may be coming to an end soon because his contract expires in June of next year.

Frederik

Fred, a £52 million acquisition from Shakhtar Donetsk, was long viewed as an emblem of United’s terrible hiring practices. The Brazilian midfielder struggled to make an impression on the United team and was frequently criticized by the team’s supporters.