Why City are fearful of 17 games in 10 weeks (yes, really!)
Pep wanted a squad of only 18 players… now he must avoid injuries to take charge of title race
AS Manchester City board their flight for southern Spain this afternoon, the race to Qatar starts now. Private planes, first- class trains and big old automobiles, forever on the road, until the World Cup.
There is not one midweek without a match until the domestic game makes way for the international stage in just over two months’ time.
The Premier League’s European contingent are used to congested schedules but have never endured a timetable quite like this.
Some of the managers — Pep Guardiola included — will have a fair amount to say on this once the injuries mount up and fatigue sets in. For City and Liverpool, the knocks have started already and it will be fascinating whether either team can manage to rack up anywhere close to the ludicrous volume of victories to which they have become accustomed. The smart money says not. City dropped their fourth point of the season on Saturday at Aston Villa, Liverpool their ninth.
But the worry for those connected to City is not the way in which they allowed Leon Bailey’s equaliser to send the Holte End into exultation, more the trepidation of heading into 17 games over the next 10 weeks with the smallest squad of them all. The size, 18 senior outfield players, is Guardiola’s choice.
It also happens to be the most collectively talented squad, significantly bolstered by the inclusion of a striker who has 10 goals in his first six league games. But if City are to take charge of this title race, a major factor in that will be the management between coaching staff and the sports science department.
That has always been their skill, yet they have not encountered anything of this intensity before. It’s the configuration of the fixture list more than anything that presents a problem. Two Carabao Cup rounds — nights for the youngsters — are now just one, making room for the entire Champions League group phase.
Guardiola is loath to make sweeping changes for European clashes, however likely it is that City will progress to the last 16. Maybe he will have to alter that rationale this year.
‘I’m not thinking far away,’ he said. ‘For now it’s how many players we have available for Sevilla and then Tottenham next week.’
It is hard to believe that he is not plotting where some of his protagonists could benefit from a day off. Kevin De Bruyne took one against Nottingham Forest last week.
To have that luxury, City need players to steer clear of injuries. Kyle Walker hobbled out of the draw with Villa, and is being assessed ahead of tomorrow’s game. Were Walker to miss out, then Joao Cancelo could switch across to right back or John Stones would play out of position. If Cancelo moved, then Nathan Ake or the untried Sergio Gomez would start on the left.
For all the class they exude, one injury should not represent such headaches and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that City enter the January market for a full back.
Manuel Akanji’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund, a move which took the defender by surprise, helps the situation at centre half, with Aymeric Laporte still a month away from action.
Kalvin Phillips has only played one minute so far this season and Rodri — who struggled to hold off Villa’s waves of pressing — looks like he could benefit from the England international returning from a shoulder problem.
Further forward, the return of Jack Grealish will give City greater control in possession. They could have done with his slower tempo off the bench.
‘We thought about bringing him on at 1-0,’ Guardiola said. ‘We need players, so it’s important for Jack to come back.’
These might seem minor complications at the moment, some of them even hypothetical, but they will become themes.
For Steven Gerrard, the best performance of Villa’s season has to become the norm. ‘We have a base now,’ Gerrard said. ‘Outside of Villa, very few would have believed we could take something from this.
‘You can use that to galvanise the squad. But it is very dangerous if we go into Leicester next week and think just because we’ve performed well this week, it guarantees you anything.’
Erling Haaland did score, obviously, but Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings handled the league’s top scorer well.
‘The gaffer told the team we have nothing to fear,’ Konsa said. ‘We put our bodies on the line, worked hard for each other and got the point. It feels amazing.
‘ We have to push on from here.We showed the crowd that we are together.’
ASTON VILLA (4-3-2-1): Martinez 8.5; Cash 6 (Young 27min, 8), Konsa 7.5, Mings 7.5, Digne 7; LUIZ 9, Kamara 7, McGinn 6.5 (Coutinho 65, 7); Bailey 8 (Buendia 90), Ramsey 8.5; Watkins 8.
Scorer: Bailey 74.
Booked: Cash 26, Digne 71.
Manager: Steven Gerrard 8. MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson 6; Walker 6 (Ake 80), Stones 7, Dias 7, Cancelo 7; De Bruyne 7, Rodri 5, Gundogan 6.5; Silva 7 (Mahrez 73, 6), Haaland 8, Foden 6.5. Scorer: Haaland 50.
Booked: None.
Manager: Pep Guardiola 6.
Referee: Simon Hooper 5.
Attendance: 41, 830.