Loftus-Cheek must bide his time like me, says Kovacic
internal competition. I think the signing of Riyad Mahrez is typical in trying to keep everyone on their toes.”
Despite the excellence of City’s early season form, both believe this side can get better – and they will need to, not least because Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all shown significant development from last season. “The incredible thing is, if City lose at Tottenham, they could find themselves fifth,” Marsh points out. “Here we are talking about them being better than last year, yet so are everyone else.”
Marsh suggests it is not so much domestic issues that require Guardiola continuing to pursue improvement. The club’s owners have made their ambition clear. “They want City to be the biggest brand in world football. Winning domestically is no longer enough. He has to do it in Europe.”
For all the current excellence, Marsh recognises that, in terms of wider perception, there is still a distance to travel. “For the past six weeks, the number one English football story in the US has been Jose Mourinho’s problems at United. We might be seeing the best football in a generation, but in terms of worldwide recognition, City are still a way behind.” Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been advised to remain patient if he is only named as a substitute when Chelsea bid to extend their unbeaten start to the season away to Burnley today.
The England midfielder scored a hattrick against BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday as he completed his first full 90 minutes for Chelsea in a season when he has played more for the national side.
Team-mate and rival for a starting place Mateo Kovacic knows better than most what Loftus-Cheek is experiencing, having left a similar surfeit of midfield talent at Real Madrid to play regularly on loan at Chelsea.
The Croatian, along with summer signing Jorginho and the rejuvenated Ross Barkley, is keeping Loftus-Cheek out of Maurizio Sarri’s Premier League side, but explains it is something to be expected at a big club.
“Of course we are all supporting each other. We are footballers but we are 25 players so we need to support each other,” said Kovacic. “One day I play then the next day Ross, then Ruben, we have a lot of players. N’Golo [Kante], [Cesc] Fabregas, Jorginho, so a lot of quality in the midfield. It’s normal you can’t play every game. The season is long and we need every player.
“We have a good team, we have 22 or 23 players who can always play. That’s really important for the full season. In the end, the coach chooses who will play but we are all prepared and that’s the most important thing.”
Kovacic’s path in Madrid was blocked by players such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Isco and he says any longterm decision on his future will be made at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old said he will easily shrug off a knock suffered in the 3-1 win over BATE to start his third game in nine days today. “It’s good, I’m a little bit tired. I was not used to playing every three or four games and here it is very tough football. You can’t relax against anybody but I really enjoy it. We have a great team, great fans and the city is nice. I like it a lot here.”
The player known from his time at Inter Milan as “The Professor” for his ability to speak five languages fluently, says Chelsea are not feeling under any pressure to win a match they will be expected to take all three points from.
The teams that should be feeling the heat, he says, are those already ahead of Chelsea and tipped for the title – Liverpool and Manchester City. “Pressure, no. Why? We like to play football and we are enjoying every moment. It’s just joy, not pressure. We are still unbeaten but we need to look forward because we are not first in the league.”
Burnley v Chelsea, 1.30pm. Highlights on MOTD
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