Man City’s trophy cabinet is now full. There’s nothing left for them to win across all competitions. Moreover, the club has established a strong team that can challenge anyone across Europe. Pep Guardiola has transformed the team upside down post his arrival. Players like Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, etc. step up for the team in the required times. However, there is one concern for the Spanish coach. Players like Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan have established themselves as one of the best players under Pep Guardiola. While the former 2 were out of the squad for some time due to injury, Gundogan is now a Barcelona player. The major cause of concern here is that there’s no perfect replacement for these 3 players till date.
Acoording tk manchestereveningnews, in the absence of De Bruyne and Rodri, Man City are struggling in the mid line. They’re having a hard time getting balls into the final third of the pitch and also recovering them. That has a clear effect on City’s performance in the premier league this season. Man City are currently at the 5th place with 34 points in 17 games. Unavailability of key players like De Bruyne and Rodri show that the club hasn’t been able to find a reliable backup for them even after spending £224 million in the last 2 summer transfer windows.
Man City’s new arrivals need to win the trust of Pep Guardiola in order to be reliable by the club.
Manchester City have just won the FIFA Club World Cup last Friday. However, if we look at their lineup in the final against Fluminense, none of their last 2 summer signings were present in the starting lineup. Players like Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez and Manu Akanji weren’t given a start. That shows the manager’s reliability on these players. However, we do agree with the fact that Erling Haaland would’ve been there in the starting lineup if he was fit. But all these new signings need to show the manager that they can step up for the team when required and deliver impressive performances.
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