CITY V BRIGHTON
PEP Guardiola’s comments last week about keeping City’s aim on domestic trophies went down as well as expected, with a fanbase mostly cold to the Champions League.
If the board and the manager still harbour ambitions for the European trophy, you would be hard-pressed to find too many Blues in Manchester disappointed next May if they are celebrating another league title without the bonus of the Champions League.
The fact remains, though, as the club looks to grow its brand that both competitions need to be treated with the utmost seriousness and that was why while Guardiola told the assembled reporters last Friday that there was no need for the players to apologise for their defeat to Lyon.
He had already read the riot act in the dressing Wednesday night.
As the man himself put it last season: “Of course I’m going to defend you until the last day of our lives in the press conference, but here I am going to tell you the truth.”
City have two league fixtures before the next international break, Brighton at home and Liverpool away – win them both and they will be viewed as favourites for a second successive title, but any room the other dropped points - particularly at Anfield and there will be questions over the defending champions.
Sandwiched between the two is a trip to Julian Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim in the Champions League that may just complicate matters.
Arguably there should be enough quality in the squad to win all three games, and that is certainly what the manager will be aiming to do.
But players such as David Silva and Fernandinho may not be able to start them all, and particularly in holding midfield an obvious replacement is lacking. John Stones’s performance there at Oxford was not enough to convince he could do a job there next week, for instance.
That leaves Guardiola likely needing to prioritise two out of the three games. Changing things for Hoffenheim would show a clear focus on the league and pointing towards the domestic dominance he spoke about after the Cardiff game.
However, City are playing catchup in the Champions League after that surprise slip at home to Lyon.
Can they afford to risk dropping more points in that group when it will leave them needing results in the four other games, or should Brighton be the sacrifice given the Premier League rewards the best team over 38 rather than 6 matches?
City’s serial winner of a coach is used to making these decisions. How well he is able to navigate his squad through the next week should give an indication as to how they will shape up for the season.