Manchester/LEICESTER: Fernandinho stepped seamlessly into Manchester City’s backline in midweek to ease Pep Guardiola’s defensive woes but the Premier League champions know their stretched resources will be tested by a physical Watford side on Saturday as Tottenham’s ambitions after reaching the club’s first Champions League final and moving into a stunning new stadium were to kick on and challenge Liverpool and Manchester City for major honours this season.
The clubs last met in the FA Cup final in May, with City romping to a 6-0 victory to complete the first-ever domestic treble in English football history. But just four months later Guardiola, whose side are already five points behind Jurgen Klopp’s rampant Liverpool, is facing a serious headache at the back, with Aymeric Laporte and John Stones out for significant spells.
Frenchman Laporte, described as the best left-sided defender in Europe by Guardiola, is out until at least February after injuring knee ligaments in the recent win over Brighton. That left Stones, whose start to the season was hampered by injury, as the only specialist centre-half left to partner Nicolas Otamendi, a player who has not been an automatic first choice for some time.
England defender Stones, however, suffered a muscle injury in training and reports suggest he could be out for four to five weeks. City appear to be paying the price for a curious strategy in the transfer market. Over the past two years they have shown strong interest in Virgil van Dijk and Harry Maguire, only to baulk at paying what turned out to be world record transfer fees for defenders.
Given the vast wealth of the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership, and the fact they have broken their own club transfer record in each of the past two summers, such caution when it comes to signing centre-halves seems curious.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino admits his side need to make major improvements and learn from their mistakes just to maintain their status as Champions League regulars. “We need to improve and I think all the players in the squad feel the same that we need to improve if we are to be a contender for big things,” said Pochettino on Thursday.
Spurs travel to Leicester on Saturday already seven points off Premier League leaders Liverpool having won just two of their opening six games to the season. After blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 away to Olympiakos in their Champions League opener on Wednesday, Harry Kane bemoaned the lack of maturity from a squad that should have been hardened by the progress made during Pochettino’s five years in charge.
“We’re not young anymore, we’re not inexperienced,” said Kane. “We’ve played in big games for club and country. I can see why the manager is frustrated because he’s been here for six years now and we’re still making similar mistakes to the ones we were in his first year. We’ve got to find a way to get around it, improve and get better.” (AFP)
