by johnny crossan » Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:20 am
Continuing Dias injury issues according to this
Alvarez impresses but Dias fitness worries: The plotlines from Manchester City’s first friendly
By Sam Lee
Jul 21, 2022
It’s always important not to fall into the trap of reading too much into pre-season performances and Manchester City will know this as well as any team.
For many, the big takeaway of last season’s Community Shield defeat to Leicester was that Pep Guardiola’s men would really be in trouble if they didn’t sign Harry Kane. In fact, they also lost away to Tottenham in their first league game the following weekend and yet things didn’t pan out too badly as they retained their Premier League title.
Plenty of teams have seen promising friendly performances turn to dust once the serious business begins, so it really is a difficult task to decide which bits to take from games at this time of year.
Having said all that, City’s performance in a 2-1 victory over Mexico’s Club America in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday evening (the early hours of Thursday in the UK) surely sets them up for an unprecedented quadruple.
OK, not quite! But there were some things that stood out and certain themes that might be returned to when the main event starts away to West Ham United a couple of weeks’ time.
De Bruyne in fine fettle
Even had Kevin De Bruyne not scored twice in City’s first pre-season outing of the summer, what Guardiola said about him post-match would have been enough to set things up nicely for the new season.
“Last pre-season, he arrived in bad conditions because of injuries (after helping Belgium to the European Championship quarter-finals, where they lost 2-1 to eventual winners Italy),” the City boss said.
“He took a long time to get his best condition but the start of this season was the opposite. We saw, in sessions, he’s sharp and strong, and he continued with the same level as last season. It was his best season in terms of scoring goals and he’s started really well.”
De Bruyne did indeed finish last season in sparkling form. So much so that he dragged City to a fourth Premier League title in five years and himself into contention for the PFA Player of the Year award — eventually losing out to Mohamed Salah of Liverpool — despite only really hitting his stride after Christmas thanks to the aforementioned injuries and a bout of COVID-19.
So for him to be in good shape already — not to mention banging the goals in — can only bode well.
Last summer, City’s pre-season was majorly affected by international tournaments (no club contributed more players to the Euros and South American equivalent the Copa America) but the opportunity to have the vast majority of the squad together this time around will mean Guardiola’s side are in better condition to kick off 2022-23, whatever the results of these warm-up games.
Rodri also looked fully comfortable on his first run-out of the summer and the more players City can get into a groove early on, the better.
City sweating over centre-back options ahead of the new season
Champions City still might have to overcome a couple of defensive issues when the new season is underway.
Aymeric Laporte hasn’t travelled to the United States for this tour and he is unlikely to be fit enough to be involved when the games start to matter.
The Spain defender battled through the final games of last season, shrugging off a muscle injury in the final stages of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid and then a bad-looking knee injury against Wolves to make sure City weren’t left short for their crucial last two league games.
He could not train between matches and felt it difficult to move when he did play, and his heroic efforts came at the cost of a small procedure at Dr Ramon Cugat’s Barcelona clinic soon after City lifted the trophy again.
Laporte was at Cugat’s clinic while Erling Haaland was carrying out some medical checks ahead of his move to City. Ruben Dias was also there.
Dias missed Wednesday’s friendly through illness, but City are also being careful with his progress this summer. The 25-year-old missed seven weeks in March and April with a hamstring injury, with Guardiola urging caution at the time.
“The doctor said the position when he got injured is so risky, we have to be careful,” he said. “They tell me (it could be an absence of) four to six weeks but it’s much better to (be careful with him and) go to six than four. We won’t take a risk on him. If he went down, he’d be out for the season.”
Dias then suffered a new hamstring problem with three games of the season remaining and missed the run-in. As a result, City are keeping a close eye on him in pre-season and do not want to take any risks.
Guardiola’s current lack of options at centre-back was highlighted on Wednesday night with Nathan Ake lining up alongside 18-year-old Luke Mbete before England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, newly signed from Leeds, came on at half-time to make his debut for the club in defence, replacing Ake.
In that sense, it is especially good news that Ake staying. The Dutchman could have left to rejoin Chelsea this summer, though it was always a strong possibility that he could start the new season at the heart of the City defence, given injuries to others.
John Stones should be available for the start of the new season, although his preparations have not been ideal either. He has been with City’s under-23s in Croatia, alongside Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan.
City should have more than enough to cope at the start of the season — especially compared to the partnership of Fernandinho and a struggling Laporte they were rolling out in May — but they might not be at full strength in that department until a few weeks in.
No Haaland but Alavarez looks bright
No doubt a big disappointment to anybody at the NRG Arena, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, and those watching at home, was that new signing Haaland didn’t see a single minute of action against Club America.
The Norway striker missed a few days of training last week with what is thought to be a minor niggle and it was always considered unlikely that he would start the match.
Haaland has tweeted that he hopes to make his debut on Saturday (early Sunday UK time), in the tour’s next match against Bayern Munich in Green Bay, Wisconsin. As with other players, it is simply a case of City not taking any fitness risks at this time of year.
In fact, one of the ways the club sold themselves to Haaland during negotiations was to assure him that they would not push him to play if he needs a rest or has a minor injury issue.
The 22-year-old had considered the less-physical Spanish football might better suit him in terms of prolonging his career but City officials argued that he would be more likely to play even when not ready were he to join Real Madrid, such is the pressure on new signings at the Bernabeu.
At City, they reasoned, he would not be rushed quite so much, and that stance may be in evidence already.
In Haaland’s absence, City got a first look at Julian Alvarez — and there were more encouraging words from Guardiola afterwards regarding the Argentinian.
“Julian was incredible. Defensively, he is quite like Gabriel (Jesus),” he said.
“Gabriel is probably the best but he is close to him in aggression, and how intuitive he is — he makes the runs — and with the ball, he’s absolutely brilliant. He can keep the ball and you can link with him without a problem.
“We have the feeling we signed a top-class young player for the next years to come and we are delighted.”
Julian Alvarez, Manchester City
Forward Julian Alvarez made his first appearance as a Manchester City player in Houston last night (Photo: Matt McNulty – Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
Alvarez’s aggression, link-up play and vision were in evidence on Wednesday, and he could play an important role for City in the coming season. He also offered the kind of runs in behind the opposing defence that City were capable of last season but did not often call upon. That will change the dynamic of their attacks (as will Haaland’s runs) and create more space in midfield, which should, in turn, help the rampaging De Bruyne.
He is expected to need time to adapt to his new surroundings but in recent months, Guardiola has been more and more enthused by Alvarez’s potential, and sources close to the first team say they have been very impressed with his ability in training.
The 22-year-old signed from River Plate in Buenos Aires has already said he can contribute on either wing, as well as down the middle of the attack, and many in his homeland believe he will be a perfect option to play alongside Haaland.
Guardiola is unlikely to go with a front two this season but if he can find a way for the pair of them to link up, for example with Alvarez coming in off the wing and a midfielder or a full-back taking his place out wide, it would be a very exciting prospect.
Thousands of Mexican fans booing Jack Grealish
Just… why?
