You dug out a result, but are you sitting pretty?
THERE might have been an air of complacency about Manchester City at the John Smith’s Stadium.
But there can’t be even the slightest whiff when they face Monaco tomorrow. City were disappointing against a weakened Huddersfield side which cost less than John Stones’ right foot. A glance at the Ligue 1 table shows the Blues must be totally switched on against Monaco, who stand above Barcelona’s conquerors Paris SaintGermain. PSG’s battering of Barca underlined how good Monaco are this season and Radamel Falcao & Co have banged in 76 goals in their 26 Ligue 1 games. Fernando insists City appreciate the scale of the challenge facing them tomorrow at the Etihad, even if they appeared to underestimate Huddersfield. “Yeah, we know that Monaco are a good team,” said the midfielder. “But we are ready for them.” Key to that will be Sergio Aguero – and he could have done with a squirt of WD-40 because the striker looked so rusty at the John Smith’s Stadium. Aguero needs to play regularly to maintain his edge and being benched by Pep Guardiola for the previous three games in favour of Gabriel Jesus undoubtedly blunted him. He fluffed one clear opening and did nothing to persuade Guardiola he should be City’s No.1 striker. Fernando defended Aguero and is confident he will deliver against Monaco. “He’s a great player for us with a lot of quality,” said the Brazilian.
“He helps the team a lot. Unfortunately he didn’t score against Huddersfield, but we hope on Tuesday he’s going to be ready to play a great game.”
Guardiola made eight changes compared to Huddersfield’s seven. Yet David Wagner’s side were cohesive, while City were disjointed.
Guardiola stood by his team selection, suggesting the questioners should be under the spotlight rather than the managers. “I take decisions and you analyse my decisions,” he snapped. “The best solution was to rotate. If you do not agree you can write and tell me.
“What I heard in the last 10 days about how people – former players and journalists – treat Arsene Wenger, for example, is for me unacceptable. Our job doesn’t have any respect from other people right now.”
Huddersfield deserve huge credit for making City look ordinary, although one of their fans let them down by chucking a plastic bottle at Raheem Sterling and Bacary Sagna, which missed, as they warmed up.
Izzy Brown claimed Wagner’s promotion hopefuls proved they are ready to step up to the Premier League. “Yes, of course. We have drawn 0-0 against one of the best teams in the Premier League,” said the striker.
“It shows we are ready to fight against the best opposition and that we are well equipped to deal with the best players.”