BRIGHTON -- Pep Guardiola has warned his players they will have to get used to his rotation policy because he wants strength in depth at Manchester City.
Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva were among the big names on City's bench in their Premier League opener against Brighton, which they won 2-0.
Guardiola is delighted with the quality in his squad but says he will make plenty of changes to keep them fresh in a bid to challenge for the title as well as the Champions League.
"They all have such a lot of quality. I like players when they have the ball, they don't lose the ball. I love that," he told a news conference.
"All of them are going to play. Last season I rotated the team a lot and I will do that again. They will all be involved.
"After that it depends on them and if they accept my decision or not. If they don't accept it, it will be their problem not mine."
Guardiola singled out his midfielders for praise and says they will be key when they face opponents that play defensively such as Brighton.
City had 78 percent possession against the newly promoted side and spent much of the game in the opposition half but had to wait until the 70th minute before Sergio Aguero finally made the breakthrough.
"We need talent, to keep the ball, to know what you've got to do. Our midfield positions are phwoar, really good!" he added.
"We have Fernandinho, Gundogan is coming back, with Kevin [De Bruyne], with Silva, with Raheem, who can play in that position, Phil Foden who was outstanding in preseason -- they all have such a lot of quality.
"To attack 10 guys in the box you need players who move well in little space. I said last year we attack in the small spaces, we defend bigger spaces.
"You watch other teams from around the world and they attack bigger spaces, defend smaller spaces. To do that you need certain type of players. Dynamic, in the middle they move, they read the situation in smaller spaces."