Three into two proving to be just perfect for Guardiola
IF Pep Guardiola was doling out centre-back places on a democratic basis, he couldn’t have been fairer.
In the last 10 City games Ruben Dias has started five, John Stones five and Aymeric Laporte five.
Of course, the manager isn’t keeping a tally – apart from the obvious need to plan at least a week ahead – but with two games a week taking its toll on the sturdiest players, Guardiola very much lives on a game-to-game basis.
The fact he has dished out places so equitably appears to be more about circumstance than any desire to keep all three of his prime centrebacks happy, or even an attempt to keep them all fresh and fit.
When asked whether his thinking had changed in terms of his pairings, after Laporte and Dias had seen the Blues to a fifth straight win against West Ham, Guardiola seemed a little nonplussed.
He does not think in terms of long-term patterns, so the fact last season saw Dias and Laporte as the main pairing until November, and then Dias and Stones as the first pick after that, is of little interest to him.
He has simply been picking, on a game-by-game basis, the pair he feels are best equipped to win that particular match.
Laporte was a little unfortunate last season. He was given a harsh lesson by an in-form Harry Kane as City lost 2-0 at Spurs, and paid the price by losing his place to Stones – whose return to consistent form was one of the stories of last season.
By the summer, Laporte’s discontent was obvious. He knew he was the third choice behind Dias and
Stones, and that led to him exploring the chances of finding a route out of the Etihad.
With City valuing him much higher than the £57m they paid for him four years ago – remember Harry Maguire cost half as much again – there was no one out there able to meet the asking price, even though he is a sought-after player.
So Laporte had to knuckle down, and the fact Stones was late back to preseason training after England’s heroics in reaching the Euro 2020 final, and then had a couple of injury niggles, meant the Spain international got a run at it in the early part of the season.
And he did extremely well, forming a solid defensive alliance with Dias, and also reminding everyone what a lethal creative force his left foot can be, coming out of defence.
His pairing with Dias is more natural, a left-footer on the left and a right-footer on the right. He adds a passing range that the Portugal ace does not have, and Dias provides greater resilience to the partnership.
It was noticeable against West Ham that when Laporte, already on a yellow card, was faced with the dangerous running of Michail Antonio or Said Benrahma, at least twice Dias stepped in to face the challenge to avert the risk of a red card. That vulnerability to players attacking him one-on-one has been a shortcoming of Laporte at times.
It earned him a red card against Crystal Palace when Wilfried Zaha exploited it perfectly, and it threatened to derail City again, in the snow, on Sunday. Guardiola revealed after the game that Stones – who had been excellent in helping to hold off the fearsome front three of PSG in midweek – had been left on the bench because he had been ill for the two days following that game.
That meant that for the seventh game on the bounce, Guardiola changed his centre-back pairing, Stones stepping out and Laporte going in.
It would have been interesting to see whether the City boss would have broken that rotation sequence if Stones had been fit and well, or whether Laporte would have played anyway.
A look at the stats shows Stones is a common factor in City victories.
The Blues have won five of the six games he has started, the only blot being the Carabao Cup exit at West Ham. And even in that one, he was part of a defensive clean sheet as they succumbed in the penalty shoot-out.
Three of the five wins have come with Laporte, the other two with Dias – although tellingly those two
Pep’s simply been picking, on a game-bygame basis, the pair he feels best equipped to win that particular match
wins were against PSG and at United, the two biggest games played in that spell.
That seems to indicate Guardiola still prefers Stones for the big games.
In the 10 games when Laporte and Dias have been paired together, City have won seven and lost two, the defeat in Paris and the poor home beating by Palace.
A couple of years ago, when Vincent Kompany was still the main man in defence, the succession seemed plain – Laporte and Stones were two promising centre-backs, born a day apart, who would mould a long-term pairing.
Laporte’s long-term knee injury wrecked that, and City’s chances of catching Liverpool in 2019-20, prompting the move for Dias, who has been a huge success. Nathan Ake was also added, but he has been a peripheral figure, though his time at the Blues has been pockmarked by injury and an inability to break up the dominance of the other three.
He has played in some of City’s worst defensive performances of the season: the Community Shield loss to Leicester and the following week’s defeat at Spurs, as well as the 6-3 shoot-out with RB Leipzig, the goalless draw with Southampton and the Carabao Cup exit at West Ham.
Whether Guardiola has decided on a consistent pairing after changing it regularly in recent weeks will become apparent in the coming weeks, and that decision will be key to the Blues’ title hopes.