The retrograde motion of the wandering stars in most Geocentric models is a result of their spirographic pattern revolving around a revolving object (the Sun). The “retrograde” part of their motion is the outer-part of the “flower-petal” motion they make as shown starting around 6:20 here:

Or as Rowbotham wrote, it could be as simple as the planet only seeming to reverse direction because it is traveling in a circle above and so if visible …