Manchester City succumbed to their third defeat in the Premier League this season, as they lost to league leaders and arch-rivals Liverpool, on Sunday. The defending Premier League champions are now 9 points behind the Reds in the league table, and most pundits and fans have predicted a Liverpool league title win this season.
But, all is not lost for City, who could still come back as we are just 12 games into the season. How can Pep Guardiola turn things around at the Etihad?
3 things Manchester City need to do to get their season back on track:
Buy a world-class central defender
Manchester City have suffered at the back since the injury to defender Aymeric Laporte, who was a leader and one of City’s best defenders at the back. The Frenchman will most likely only return in the new year, which means that Guardiola has just John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi, apart from defensive midfielder Fernandinho.
Stones and Otamendi have not looked good at the back, and it seems that Guardiola does not fancy playing the duo together. The Catalan manager should venture into the transfer window in January to sign a world-class central defender and rectify the error they made not signing a replacement for Vincent Kompany They need a leader at the back who can organise the defence, as well as keep things tight at the back – someone like the former captain and City legend.
Could we perhaps see City pursue the signature of Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly?
Restore Fernandinho to midfield
Fernandinho has been one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League over the last few seasons, and his presence in midfield has been missed since he has been moved into defence. The Brazilian, who is a good tackler, reader of the game, as well as passer, should be moved back to the defensive midfield position to offer some stability and leadership in the middle of the park.
Rodri was brought in as a future replacement for Fernandinho, but it would be too much to ask of a player new to the league to hit his stride in the very first season.
Emphasis on using the attack-minded full-backs
City have four quality full-backs in Oleksandr Zinchenko, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, and João Cancelo. But none of the four has made a big impact this season for City, as they have not contributed much going forward. Leaders Liverpool have done well this season primarily on the back of the attacking form of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, and City should take a leaf out of Liverpool’s book by asking more from their full-backs.
With their full-backs bombing forward, the likes of Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva can move infield to create chances in the final third and play in and around the central striker. City now have the likes of Benjamin Mendy and Joao Cancelo as options and it won’t make sense keeping them on the bench for much longer given the league position the Blues are in already.