Since the start of the campaign Pep Guardiola has been losing players. This has led us to check in with Man City and their injury problems a number of times already.
It started with the loss of key forward, Leroy Sane. But at the time of his loss, the worry was not a huge one. It was only until Pep lost his chief personality in Aymeric Laporte where things went a bit south. After this, player after player joined an injury trend at the Etihad.
The latest name to be jotted down in the injury program is new boy, Rodri. During Manchester City’s third straight Champions League victory, where they hammered Atalanta 5-1, the makeshift defender was ushered off during the first half with reports suggesting it’s more likely to be a hamstring injury sustained.
"Rodri was substituted with what appeared to be a hamstring injury in the first half of Manchester City’s Champions League tie against Atalanta, as the Premier League champions’ injury problems mounted."
Pep is going to have problems
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When asked back then will the absentees affect the two-time Premier League winner? The answer was a straight forward, No. Pep was always able to manage without some key pieces missing here and there. However, missing a handful of them all at the same time is certainly a problem.
Already using his two defensive midfielders as his stand-in centre backs shows how thin City are in defence. Adding to this problem, Fernandinho’s age doesn’t allow him to play every game, Laporte’s out for the remainder of the year, and the other duo Otamendi and Stones don’t know how to stay fit.
It doesn’t even stop there. The list goes on, asking who’s fit is will be shorter and quicker report to hand over.
"The Spaniard has been filling in at centre-back with fellow midfielder Fernandinho, as Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones struggled for fitness while Aymeric Laporte is sidelined until 2020 with a knee injury. Oleksandr Zinchenko missed Atalanta game with a knee problem. (via: skysports.com)"
What can Pep do?
Pep will have to play the waiting game. That’s all that the City manager can do. He has players getting on and off the doctor’s table. Only with time will he be able to assess his major and minor problems, which is a major problem in itself.
Pep’s best defence has been attacking. They managed a clean sheet against Palace over the weekend, while conceding one before the withdrawal of Rodri in the UCL clash.
If Pep continues to lose men at the back, the next at the back will be Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva or Bernardo Silva. Two games lost across all competitions, those two coming in the Premier League only.