CITY Danilo could give Guardiola possible solution to Salah
ONE year on, and Pep Guardiola faces the same tough decision … which player does he ask to do a job at left-back?
And this time, with Mo Salah in rampaging form, his selection could prove the difference between a Champions League semi-final or more Euro disappointment for City.
Of course, Guardiola’s dilemma will be eased considerably should Benjamin Mendy appear on the teamsheet at Everton on Saturday, but the Blues are keeping their cards close to their chest on just how ready Mendy is.
It looks increasingly like Mendy’s original target of being fit for the Champions League semi-finals – should City get through – is more realistic.
Since he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligaments in September, Guardiola has had to fit square pegs into that particular round hole, using Danilo, Fabian Delph and Aleks Zinchenko at various points.
All of them have enhanced their reputations by doing an unfamiliar job well, but heading into the sharp end of the Champions League, a stop-gap like Delph or Zinchenko may not be ideal.
And that is accentuated by the fact that Liverpool’s greatest threat remains Salah.
City may have won the league game at the Etihad Stadium 5-0, but the first half of that match is etched on the brains of City fans, as Salah repeatedly scooted through the gap between Nicolas Otamendi and Mendy.
That problem was only solved by Sadio Mane’s dismissal, and Jurgen Klopp’s curiously negative decision to sub Salah as a defensive measure.
Now Guardiola has to solve the dilemma of dealing with Salah all over again, and probably without Mendy.
Delph and Zinchenko have both looked good when City dominate possession, but both have their defensive vulnerabilities. It was noticeable that when Delph went off injured at Anfield in January, Guardiola replaced him with Danilo rather than Zinchenko.
Guardiola was faced with a similar issue last season, when the Blues faced Monaco – and Bernardo Silva – in the last 16.
His regular left-backs Aleks Kolarov and Gael Clichy did not even make the bench as Guardiola picked midfield dynamo Fernandinho in that slot.
The thinking was partly based on Bernardo’s penchant for cutting in from the right flank onto his favoured left foot, partly on Fernandinho being a natural fit to roam inside and give City a midfield overload when they had the ball.
Salah is similar to Bernardo in that he is at his most devastating when he carves in from the flank – one thing that Otamendi did get right in the Etihad league meeting was to continually force him to the outside.
Given that, Danilo would be a natural choice at left-back if Guardiola opts for a back four. He also has the pace to cope with Salah, and the experience of big Champions League games, as well as being a more natural defender than Delph or Zinchenko.