MANCHESTER, England -- Bacary Sagna says he is excited to learn from new Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after being asked to play an unconventional full-back role.
Sagna and fellow Frenchman Gael Clichy started as full-backs in City's 2-1 victory over Sunderland as Guardiola kicked off the Premier League season on a winning note.
The two defenders were required to tuck in to play as virtual central midfielders when City had possession -- which they did for 77 percent of the game -- in a radical new gameplan.
Sagna, as well as Clichy and fellow full-backs Aleksander Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta, is in his 30s but he insists they are not too old to learn a new system.
"I don't really get to play in the middle, but I enjoyed and it's new for us," Sagna told reporters. "As long as you want to learn, you can do it.
"I don't want to say too much about the tactics behind it or it will make it too easy for the other teams! But we are working very hard to make it work."
Guardiola has already made of plenty of changes at City during his six weeks in charge. For one, the players were able to stay at home with their families rather than meet up with the first team the night before the game.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager has also changed the players' diets, and they were given prawn salad after the game rather than the pizza and chips they had postmatch last season.
"First of all we did not go to the hotel," said Sagna. "We trained [on the morning of the game] to wake up, to be aware of what we needed to do. The way we prepared for the game was different to last season.
"I don't want to say it was better, it's just different.
"We have to be responsible and everyone is very professional. You have to go to bed early and think about the game. Everyone did.
"Everyone is professional about it. Everyone eats in a good way. Everyone is willing to work very hard and the first step is to be fit. To be fit, you have to eat healthy."