CITY SPECIAL Squad depth vital in fight on four fronts
CITY’S ‘terrible’ month is going perfectly so far. Wins over Arsenal and Everton have them back on top of the Premier League table, but by the end of February they will have played league, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League fixtures and we’ll have a better idea of just how realistic the chances of an unprecedented quadruple really is.
Already City have played 40 games this season. By the end of February it will be 45.
Pep Guardiola will hope that by the end of the season it is 64, taking in three cup finals and a defence of their Premier League crown.
The Catalan has continually talked down the chances of winning all four trophies this season, but he knows February is a month that will shed the clearest light yet on whether City can ‘do something special’ this season, as Guardiola said earlier this week.
To do that he is going to need every member of his squad at their best. Competing on four fronts requires strength in depth and over the last few weeks Guardiola has discovered that his resources may run deeper than even he realised.
For much of this season City have been battling an injury list. Their squad has been depleted and Guardiola’s options have been constrained. But as the season enters another crucial phase suddenly the situation at the Etihad Campus looks a lot healthier.
The return to fitness of Kevin De Bruyne has strengthened options in midfield, of course, while Gabriel Jesus rediscovering his best form has given Guardiola another trusted option in attack.
But the City boss has also tinkered with some of his options to find strength in depth elsewhere. Fernandinho was dropped into a central defensive role against Arsenal in what proved to be a very flexible system, with the Brazilian moving into midfield occasionally against the Gunners, who were outfoxed by the Blues.
The issues at left-back have been eased as well. Benjamin Mendy might be on the road back to full fitness, but Danilo has enjoyed his most productive spell as a City player recently and, after a failed switch there last season, Aymeric Laporte has also played at left-back over the last month, impressing against Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton in that position. While De Bruyne has missed much of this season thanks to those two knee injuries, his stand-in Bernardo Silva has been one of City’s star men. His influence on the side has been substantial this term, but with De Bruyne, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan also offering options in central midfield, the competition was fierce again. But the former Monaco man has displayed his own versatility. Against Arsenal and Everton he has played on the right wing, drifting on to his left foot. The position has come naturally to him, he would often drift to the right when playing in central midfield and while he doesn’t have the incisive thrust that Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane do, he has given