Why Pep needs to start showing some to Aguero

SERGIO AGUERO must love Manchester City.

Or else he loves scoring goals. Better still, it may be that he loves scoring goals for Manchester City.

Despite Aguero plundering 12 in 15 starts since wunderkind Gabriel Jesus broke a bone in his foot, Pep Guardiola was at it again this week.

What’s that, you ask? We l l , patronising him.

After yet another successful day out – t his t i me at Southampton – the justification for the Argentine’s goalscoring form was this: “Now he understands what we want.”

Er, what? Goals by the bucketful?

Barbs

they don’t play, Sergio will,” he said, reassuring the Premier League’s most prolific striker, at present.

And, in between times, there have been pithy remarks such as “I know he’s trying”.

The latest line appears to be that Guardiola has had a magical impact on a player who could very well draw level with 1920s sharpshooter Tommy Johnson today at Wembley and become the second-highest goalscorer in City’s history. “Before he was waiting to score a goal,” he said, after the game at St Mary’s last week. “Now, he’s involved in the game.”

Guardiola is fortunate t hat Aguero hasn’t developed a niggling injury. You know the score. Player is dropped. Then an untimely knock forces said manager to pick discarded player.

Only to find that the snubbed star now has a muscle problem that no one can quite fathom. Or stubbed his toe.

It seems as if the only bloke who doesn’t appreciate his real value to the club is his coach – or perhaps his fellow professionals, who overlooked his talents in favour of Romelu Lukaku this week after details of the PFA’s team of the season were released.

Twenty- nine goals in 39 appearances this season. And that is in spite of an enforced break in the campaign.

And if Manchester City do qualify for the Champions League, then Aguero will have more than played his part.

Two goals in three matches against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal will have gone a long way to stopping their rivals picking up the spoils.

In fairness to Guardiola, among the highlights of a patchy first season has been the i mproved performance level of Sterling. Sane has been a hit, too. But David