M.E.N. ON SUNDAY FIVE pages of analysis, comment, and build-up to Saints v City
IF City could wind the clock back 12 months there’s probably quite a few things Pep Guardiola and the club would admit to doing differently, at least in private.
Pushing harder for a replacement for Vincent Kompany is probably top of the list, given the defensive frailties that have plagued their title defence, but the Blues boss would probably also pick a slightly different team in the Community Shield.
Leroy Sane started at Wembley that day, with City not risking Riyad Mahrez after being unable to confirm the ingredients of a nasal spray used in the African Cup of Nations, but the serious knee injury the German picked up in the early stages of the game has had several knock-on effects. But for that injury Sane would almost certainly have moved to Bayern Munich last summer. Instead, that deal has had to wait 12 monthst.
City might be happy to have got close to £55m for the 24-year-old in the current climate, but it’s still at least £30m less than they would have got a year ago.
Those 13 minutes at Wembley last August have proved to be very expensive.
Sane’s injury was always likely to only delay his move to Bavaria rather than derail it, and so it’s proved.
That meant City have had a season to have a ‘dry run’ at replacing him and while they’ve scored goals at an exceptional rate, there is a feeling that their attack has become a little
Those 13 minutes at Wembley last August have proved to be very expensive for City Tyrone Marshall
too predictable at times without him.
Sane is an old-fashioned winger in a way, a quick, left-footed, left-sided player, capable of bursting down the outside of a full-back as well as clever link-up play.
It’s clear he and Guardiola haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.
The Catalan’s exasperation with Sane during the decisive win over Leicester City in last season’s title race sticks in the mind, but he offers something different compared to Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva, who tend to occupy the wide spots for City.
While Mahrez has had a consistently good season, Sterling hasn’t been as good as the last couple of years and Bernardo has seen his standards suffer after