What can Man City do in the wake of Stones and de Bruyne injuries
Premier League champions and second-placed Man City are losing players by the week through injury and other predicaments.
It is certainly going from bad to worse for Pep Guardiola and his star-studded team. That’s purely based on injury interferences and things like the Bernardo Silva saga. The latter being a serious offence that cannot be treated lightly.
Rules are rules, and the rules state he has gone and messed up… Badly!
Although, If you were to judge them based entirely on results, you’d notice no difference as they sit every team down with overpowering performances, barring the Norwich loss. So much so, to date, Man City has still only sustained the loss to the Canaries and the draw to Spurs across all competitions.
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This has been done with a second-choice backline, without the likes of the fancied Aymeric Laporte. Now comes their next test before the international break, and this time without the services of in form, Kevin de Bruyne and another centre back in John Stones.
Missing Kevin de Bruyne
City might have a squad of world-class players and potential world-class youngsters, but it has shown they miss the Belgian when he is not on the pitch. De Bruyne has started every EPL game for Pep besides the Norwich clash, which is also their only loss.
He made an appearance with a 57th-minute substitution coming on from the bench, which was too an attempt to save the result in Carrow Road. He has been the man making them tick the most.
As a consequence of his powers, the midfielder has single-handedly been involved in 10 of Man City’s 27 goals this season. Any team would miss the best player for the season. Last season that man was Bernardo Silva, he never missed a game and City won four trophies.
With that being said, Pep has packed the centre of the City midfield and has ample cover in the Kevin de Bruyne hole. So sad, having just written a piece on the Belgian and us gearing up for another Kevin de Bruyne masterpiece.
John Stones – The best defence is attack for Pep
Said it before and will say it one more time… Pep doesn’t worry too much about his defence. If the ball stays at your feet and you control most of the game’s possession, there will be no need to defend. If Guardiola could place a striker in the DM position, he would. So don’t tempt him.
Since the loss of their main defender, City has looked far from affected. They’ve played six fixtures already and have only conceded three goals during that time. They’ve additionally gone one better in this time of loss and have accomplished four clean sheets across all competitions.
Expressing Pep’s desire to worry more about attacking and less about defending, the best attacking team in the Premier League has scored 21 goals. Will they miss John Stones? Not a chance.
Next. Man United and the Decline into Mediocrity. dark
Will Eric Garcia or Fernandinho fit in seamlessly? Yes, without a doubt. Somehow, the mad scientist will prevail and get his side to outplay their opponents. Luckily for the Spaniard, it’s one game before the silly international break, giving him time for his players to get back up to speed and match fit.
Manchester City has done so well in front of goal and at the back, I sometimes forget we must get ready for a Leroy Sane return and he has been missing for such a long period. It’s as if he was in Germany already, playing for Bayern Munich.