AGUERO: I WANT TO STAY AT CITY
AGUERO AND JESUS CAN PLAY ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER
GABRIEL Jesus and Sergio Aguero once made it impossible for Pep Guardiola not to pick them both, and the City manager has more to think about after the 6-1 shellacking of Aston Villa.
Sunday was, of course, Aguero’s day with his three goals embedding him further into the history books as one of the finest players ever to grace the Premier League, but there were a number of subplots.
Riyad Mahrez impressed again, Kevin de Bruyne continued his prolific form and Gabriel Jesus added to his personal numbers that are anything but shabby.
On his 76th start in all competitions for the Blues, the Brazilian’s strike meant he has now directly contributed to 71 goals with 54 for himself and 17 assists.
If that underlines his credentials to become the long-term successor on the day that Aguero does decide to call it a day, it is his partnership with the Argentine that is more interesting to City’s immediate future.
With the three-man midfield that was the driving force behind the last two titles increasingly not being turned to by the manager, the formations are becoming less predictable.
At Old Trafford, Guardiola played with no recognised strikers with his take on a 4-4-2 and at Villa Park he used both in the same line-up for the first league game since September 2018.
The manager may bristle at such basic reading into facts, but City really do score more goals with two strikers on the pitch rather than one.
In 11 league starts, Aguero has scored 14, Jesus eight and the team 40 at an average close to four per match. Those games have resulted in nine wins and two draws.
Explaining why the partnership works, Jesus said: “I think, because I want to score, he wants to score so that’s the point, you know.
“I can score maybe normally, two or three [against Villa] but I missed the chance and Sergio scored a hattrick. If Raheem [Sterling] plays I’m sure he scores - we have to do it. “At Villa I played as a winger. Of course I’ve played there for the national team before. When I was in Palmeiras I played like a winger. So, I played as a winger, I can run I can fight, I have the space. I think before when I play with Sergio, we play as two strikers, here I played as a winger so it’s different.” Guardiola is not short of options and Raheem Sterling remains on course for his most prolific campaign. Equally though, Jesus’s versatility and ability to play out wide allows the manager to use both of his main strikers without having two up top. It doesn’t feel like it will be another 17-month wait before Jesus and Aguero are paired up again in the Premier League.
I think before when I play with Sergio, we play as two strikers, here I played as a winger
Gabriel Jesus