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Foden has a true sense of goal – Guardiola
A victory in four Premier League games, another injury for Sergio Agüero and key players still lost: is this Pep Guardiola’s biggest test in his four years at Manchester City?
Despite Phil Foden’s draw in a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Saturday, City have lost seven points in the first five games and are anchored in the bottom half of the table.
They received Kevin de Bruyne back from injury at the London stadium, but Aguero, who had surgery for a knee injury in June, did not show up early in the second half due to a leg muscle injury.
It’s been a less than smooth start for Guardiola, who guided City to the Premier League title in 2018 and 2019, now what?
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‘They just can’t leave’
It was the fifth game of last season when City broke away from the promoted Norwich City.
By then, they already had 10 points, two more than they have achieved so far this season.
“City just had a little closed season offseason, a lot of injuries at the start of the new season and they really haven’t found any kind of rhythm,” former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, three-time Premier League champion, said on Football Focus.
“It’s really amazing. They just can’t go on.”
While Keown and many others may be surprised by City’s slow start, Guardiola is not, and he has no trouble identifying the reasons.
“A lot of injuries, lack of preparation, no recovery time and tough games we’ve played so far,” he said when asked after the West Ham game why City are off to a less than spectacular start.
“I’m not a guy who can predict the future. We’ve already lost seven points, which is a lot.
“But we have fought a lot for many reasons. We have to take things match by match and see what happens.”
Manchester City have won eight points from their five Premier League games this season, their lowest total at this stage of the season since 2014-15.
Since beating Wolves in their opening game, Guardiola’s side have lost a lot at home to Leicester, drawn at Leeds, beaten Arsenal and lost another two points at West Ham.
“All that air of invincibility seems to have faded,” former England goalkeeper Rob Green said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Being handed over by Leicester, Leeds could have finished 6-6, they have not been exhausted compared to past seasons.”
Agüero adds to the misery of injuries of the City
Injuries and City have taken their toll, so much so that Guardiola named a starting lineup unchanged for the first time since October 2017, some 172 games ago.
While substitute De Bruyne looked strong during his 22 minutes on the pitch, Guardiola looked discouraged when he later announced that forward Agüero had suffered another injury.
Having returned from a long stint on the sidelines against Arsenal last week, their latest setback is something City could do without as Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho, Benjamin Mendy, Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte remain out.
Sergio Agüero has participated in only three league and cup games this season due to injury
“They’ve had so many injuries,” Keown added.
“Since they left the quarterfinals of the Champions [against Lyon , they’ve struggled.
“It’s going to be very important for Sergio Aguero to stay fit. Pep Guardiola wants to play expansive football but this is not the same silky City we’ve seen in the past where they were breaking records left right and centre.”
Aguero’s fitness and form is surely key to City success, especially in the absence of Jesus, their only other senior striker.
Yet the 32-year-old Argentine, who has recently celebrated his ninth anniversary at City, is facing another spell on the sidelines.
His replacement against West Ham was Foden.
“It’s been a strange year,” said the 20-year-old. “A lot of games are coming quickly so maybe some players are feeling it. Everyone has the ability to make an impact.”
Guardiola said Aguero will be assessed on Sunday before the Champions League trip to Marseille on Tuesday.
‘We will see how good Pep really is now’
Since they last won the Premier League, City have lost Vincent Kompany, Leroy Sane and David Silva.
Green said Guardiola is having to rebuild a team for the first time.
He spent four seasons at Barcelona, winning three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues before moving to Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga in each of his three seasons.
Now in his fifth season at City, Guardiola faces many challenges, added Green.
“He hasn’t had to rebuild before,” he said.
“Maybe they have dropped the ball in terms of recruitment but also maybe Pep didn’t expect to be here this time last season. You could say they could have started building last season, but Pep doesn’t normally do more than three years.”
Former Tottenham midfielder Andy Reid said City were lacking leadership on the pitch.
Man City have never lost a match when Phil Foden has scored
“Will they have that consistency? And when it comes to the tough games, will they have that bit extra? I’m not too sure,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“That is why it’s a rebuilding process.”
Keown added: “They’re not far from greatness, but there’s certainly some work to be done.
“We will see how good Pep really is now; he’s got to rebuild the team.”
Source: bbc.com
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