Man City’s greedy month makes them contenders again

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Publication Date: Saturday, October 31, 2020, 3:18 AM

“He has the most important job he’s probably ever had in football right now, to win the title again,” Gary Neville said after a heinous 5-2 loss to Leicester City that saw the death sentence ring out for Guardiola and this side of town. “Right now, I think Liverpool could run away,” said Graeme Souness, insisting that it would take more than the imminent signing of Ruben Dias to rescue this chaotic City defense.

How about the signing of Dias, the return of Aymeric Laporte, the change of Joao Cancelo, the continued excellence of Kyle Walker and the important trust placed in Rodri? Just over a month since the last penalty loss, City have played seven games, lost none and conceded just three goals; It took them only 23 minutes to filter the same number against Leicester.

Injuries have robbed City of a natural forward – Ferran Torres’ impressive movement and ball retention has yet to match his shot – so they had no choice but to become a tighter unit at the rear. A ridiculous match roster and no preseason has robbed City of its 90-minute intensity – their energy levels dropped noticeably off a cliff at halftime. on Bramall Lane – so they had no choice but to become a tighter unit in the back. This iteration of City will not allow Liverpool to take the title; they are made of a harder material.

Just as defense was going out of style, City could make everything great again. Laporte is offering a reminder why his absence was felt so intensely last season, while new signing Dias could be his perfect partner. He is strong, vocal and clearly a good reader of the game. A mirror image of Laporte. And then there’s Rodri, using his height and physique to dominate that area of ​​the field both in the air and on the ground. The formation might say 4-3-3, but the Spaniard often plays as a third center, a vital role when full-backs provide such range of attack.

Against Sheffield United, the City started out as an express train but soon became one of those local stopping services that moves too slow and heavy to get anywhere fast. There would never be an onslaught of goals once Aaron Ramsdale and a group of Blades defenders had eliminated early chances, with City happy to score through Kyle Walker and then spend the rest of the game conserving energy and controlling the pace.

That could have been a dangerous game a month ago, but Guardiola has fixed City’s defensive vulnerability, through the expensive purchase of Dias and the cautious return of Laporte, but also through the demotion of Fernandinho, whose presence with too much It often seemed to make Rodri unsure of his purpose. . Now playing alone at the base of the midfield, Rodri has been excellent in recent weeks. His lack of rhythm is less of an issue when he plays with his toes on his center halves.

This isn’t an exciting side of the City yet, and perhaps the unique circumstances of this season mean that we’ll never see a truly exciting side of the City, but now it’s a side of the City that seems incredibly hard to beat. Would a defense with Dias and Laporte at its heart collapse as spectacularly as we saw against Leicester? On the contrary, they have the potential to be the best midfielder couple in the Premier League in a season where that could be enough to win the title.

Sarah winterburn



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