NEW SEASON... SAME OLD CITY
Pep’s men shine but there’s a cloud over Sane
THEY might be missing a number of south american stars and Riyad Mahrez, but Manchester City always seem to have enough quality at their disposal to score at will.
Pep Guardiola’s side put four past West Ham in the Premier League asia Trophy in China via David silva, young forward Lukas Nmecha and a Raheem sterling double after Mark Noble’s penalty. It marked a perfect start to pre- season, with Guardiola having very few worries going into another title defence.
SILVA SERVICE
THIs was silva’s first public outing since announcing he will leave City next summer and the man they call Merlin underlined his importance.
His goal was sublime, an eyecatching adrian Bernabe cross controlled on his chest before an angled volley screamed past West Ham goalkeeper Roberto.
The 33-year-old has been scoring more goals under Guardiola, making sure he darts into the box with added regularity, and sharing the attacking workload has been the cornerstone of City’s recent success. One of silva’s tasks will be helping the development of Phil Foden among others before he departs for pastures new and this is the best way to do that.
GIVE US A SMILE, LEROY
LEROY SANE’S encouraging performance in tandem with second-half sub sterling was overshadowed by remarks from his manager.
Guardiola said City would not stop sane leaving if he is ‘unhappy’. Bayern Munich fancy the Germany winger who is valued at around £90million. sane has two years left on his contract and City have so far failed in attempts to tie him down to a new deal.
‘The club made him an offer last year,’ said Guardiola. ‘I spoke to the club 10 times (to say) that I want people here to be happy, if they don’t want, they go.’
as for sterling — two well-taken finishes showed the devilish streak that yielded 31 goals for club and country last season.
LEFT BACK CONUNDRUM
ANGELINO, City’s £ 5.3million signing from PSV eindhoven, did not enjoy his night. The left back struggled against the guile of Felipe anderson, giving away a penalty when dumped on his backside and handling the ball.
angelino was lucky not to give another away when anderson went over his trailing leg soon after.
There is a sense of intrigue as to who Guardiola will place his faith in at left back this season, with uncertainty over the long-term fitness of Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko having been given a big, new five-year deal. Mendy is not in China, instead undergoing rehabilitation after an arthroscopy in May. It is anybody’s to claim now, with three imperfect defenders vying for the spot.
HOT RODRI
GIVEN almost 70 minutes in his first game for the club, Rodri did the basics with minimal fuss. That is all Guardiola will want from the new holding midfielder, signed for £62.8m from atletico Madrid and seen as the long-term successor to Fernandinho.
Rodri reads the game effortlessly, calmly ferries possession to others and refuses to stray from his station unless required.
still only 23 he looks like making an instant impact, with Fernandinho also seen as an option at centre half. Guardiola believes Rodri will act as City’s base for years to come.
MORE LOCAL KIDS
CITY supporters were heartened to see academy products Tommy Doyle and Taylor Harwood-Bellis in Guardiola’s starting XI and neither disappointed. Both are fans of the club and there is a drive to afford local, talented youngsters more opportunities.
Central midfielder Doyle, 17, whose grandfathers Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe are City legends, was particularly dangerous from set pieces, with one early corner almost converted by Harwood-Bellis.
still only 17, Harwood-Bellis was up against Michail antonio and then Javier Hernandez.
The central defender of the oldschool variety stood up to the challenge. scorer Nmecha impressed on last year’s tour, scoring in a 3-2 win over Bayern Munich. He was on loan at Preston last season, netting only four times in 41 games.
The pick of the kids was 18-year-old Bernabe, who signed from Barcelona last year. The tricky winger should feature in the Carabao Cup this season.
PS
WEST HAM have wrapped up the £42.5m capture of striker sebastien Haller from Frankfurt. The likes of antonio, anderson and andriy Yarmolenko all missed big chances, so Manuel Pellegrini knew he needed a finisher. Haller will bear the majority of that responsibility.