Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said the door was not closed for club stalwarts like Joe Hart and Yaya Toure despite dropping them for his first Premier League game.
Guardiola picked Willy Caballero in goal for Saturday's narrow 2-1 win over Sunderland instead of Hart, whose future at the club is in doubt, while Toure did not even make the match-day squad.
France internationals Eliaquim Mangala and Samir Nasri, meanwhile, were omitted from the squad for City's Champions League play-off match at Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday, the latter over concerns about his weight.
But Guardiola said: “I don’t have any complaints about these names. Yaya trained really, really good.
“Sami arrived a little bit ... but the last one week, two weeks, he’s training amazing, so I’m really impressed about the quality of Sami.
“Mangala, you know better than me how professional he is. But at the end I have a squad and I decide what I see. I have to create a team spirit. It’s not about tactics.
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“I decide for this line-up today. That doesn’t mean in the future they are not going to play. In Barcelona, in (Bayern) Munich, it was difficult to repeat a line-up.
“I’m a guy so I take decisions. I’m not afraid about that. What I feel, I do it. Today in the world, people are afraid to take decisions. I like to take (them).
“It’s not that Joe cannot play or Yaya or Sami or Mangala. But today I decide for that, for many reasons.”
Guardiola is reported to be interested in signing German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Barcelona.
But he said the decision to bench Hart was purely down to the fact Caballero had spent more time working on build-up play with centre-backs John Stones, who made his debut, and Aleksandar Kolarov.
City prevailed courtesy of an 87th-minute own goal by Sunderland debutant Paddy McNair, who had only been on the pitch for four minutes.
Sergio Aguero put City ahead with an early penalty, but the hosts failed to make their dominance count and Jermain Defoe equalised with 19 minutes remaining.
Asked what he had learnt about the Premier League, Guardiola said: “I realise how difficult it is, definitely.
“We are not safe until the referee says, ‘OK, go home.’ Long ball, free-kick, long ball, throw-in, ball in the box, tall guy, second ball...
“I can imagine the last five minutes in an away game. That’s why you have to create more chances.”
David Moyes, who was taking charge of Sunderland for the first time in a competitive match, described the outcome as “gut-wrenching”.
Sunderland's defence was impressively marshalled by Ivorian centre-back Lamine Kone, who was the subject of an unsuccessful bid from Everton.
He reportedly tabled a transfer request earlier this week, but Moyes said that Kone had no knowledge of a statement that had been attributed to him by British media.
“I expect him to stay. Strangely enough, when I pulled the boy (aside) yesterday, he didn’t know anything about his statement,” Moyes said.
“The boy was great. He was great today, he was great yesterday. We’ve told him that on September 1, we’ll look to do a contract if that was what was said.
“We also told him that we’ve had an offer from Everton as well. So we’ve not hidden everything.”
Despite the result, Moyes took heart from his team’s doggedness and urged his players to build on the momentum they generated during their escape from relegation last season under his predecessor, Sam Allardyce.
"We need to play at that level of intensity. But I want us to have more of the ball," said the former Manchester United manager.
“I want us to give the crowd something to shout about. But more importantly, I need to build on what happened last year with Sam. They avoided relegation, we’ve now got to keep the momentum going.”
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Command%20Z
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Wallabies
Updated team: 15-Israel Folau, 14-Dane Haylett-Petty, 13-Reece Hodge, 12-Matt Toomua, 11-Marika Koroibete, 10-Kurtley Beale, 9-Will Genia, 8-Pete Samu, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 6-Lukhan Tui, 5-Adam Coleman, 4-Rory Arnold, 3-Allan Alaalatoa, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16-Folau Faingaa, 17-Tom Robertson, 18-Taniela Tupou, 19-Izack Rodda, 20-Ned Hanigan, 21-Joe Powell, 22-Bernard Foley, 23-Jack Maddocks.
RESULTS
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