Man Metropolis: Rodri harm not Pep Guardiola’s solely drawback as Ilkay Gundogan struggles and Phil Foden begins slowly | Soccer Information

De Bruyne’s fading health ranges

Kevin de Bruyne needed to wait till the 74th minute to be launched towards Tottenham, by which level the end result had grow to be a foregone conclusion. Through the run of 5 consecutive defeats which has thrown Manchester Metropolis’s season into disarray, he has solely been capable of play a complete of 38 minutes.

His lack of health, as he struggles to totally get well from a hamstring harm suffered in September, is a serious headache for Pep Guardiola. Metropolis had been capable of cope with out him for a lot of final season however it’s a unique story with Rodri additionally absent from their midfield.

De Bruyne has not began a recreation since Metropolis’s Champions League opener towards Inter two months in the past. At 33, with greater than 700 video games below his belt for membership and nation, the workload is catching up with him within the type of repeated hamstring issues.

Guardiola will hope to have him obtainable to start out video games quickly. However, as along with his cameo towards Spurs, the fear is that it would come too late. The final two seasons present his physique can now not be relied on.
Nick Wright

Gundogan is not on top of things

It appeared like the cut price signing of the summer time. Ilkay Gundogan on a free switch. The five-time Premier League champion and treble-winning captain Guardiola did not need to see go away the membership in 2023.

What do they are saying about by no means going again? In any case the nice and cozy sentiment and good feeling of Gundogan’s return from Barcelona, the cruel actuality is that – up to now – the midfielder has appeared a shadow of the participant he was first time spherical in Manchester.

Overwhelmed in midfield by energetic Tottenham on Saturday, Gundogan was chasing shadows, most notably for the opening objective when he misplaced James Maddison. “Gundogan couldn’t get around the pitch today,” mentioned Sky Sports activities’ Jamie Redknapp in evaluation. “He couldn’t get near anybody and his focus wasn’t right.

“Gundogan has to observe that run [from Maddison] and that is actually poor from him. He simply could not match Spurs’ power in midfield all recreation.”

The touch and technique remain – Gundogan saw more of the ball than any other player and his passing accuracy percentage is well into the 90s. But can he still match the intensity demands of the Premier League?
Peter Smith

What’s happened to Grealish?

Jack Grealish is another who has been hampered by injury issues. His substitute appearance at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday was his first of any kind since the 2-1 win over Wolves in October.

He has of course played a part in a succession of trophy wins since his £100m arrival from Aston Villa but, on an individual level, his output has been modest, to put it kindly, with only 11 goals and 12 assists in 82 Premier League games across the last four seasons.

It’s a decrease mixed whole than he managed in his remaining season and a half at Villa – and that interval included a three-month harm lay-off.

Amazingly, he hasn’t discovered the online for Manchester Metropolis, in any competitors, since a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace final December.

Grealish has needed to recalibrate his recreation below Guardiola. He’s much less of a maverick, extra of a system participant. It has come at the price of targets and assists and that is an issue at a time when so many others, Erling Haaland included, are struggling to supply.
Nick Wright

Walker’s defending below scrutiny

While you launch a podcast known as: ‘You may By no means Beat Kyle Walker’ it’s a fairly clear indication that one-on-one defending is taken into account a power. However on the age of 34, Walker’s potential to deal with these conditions is lastly coming below some scrutiny.

The sight of Timo Werner pulling away from him for the fourth Tottenham objective could have owed a little bit to the circumstances of the match however it was additionally alarming. The England defender has relied on that tempo to get him and his staff out of hassle for years now.

His high velocity this season is 33.61 kilometres per hour – not sluggish but additionally exterior the highest 100 gamers within the Premier League. There may be some noise in that knowledge as a result of it is determined by whether or not you might want to run however it’s nonetheless a fear provided that it hints at a decline.

The statistics present Walker is being dribbled previous by an opponent extra commonly up to now this season than at any level in his Premier League profession over the previous decade. With Metropolis struggling to manage these counter-attacks, they want Walker at his finest. He isn’t.
Adam Bate

Foden’s sluggish begin is dragging on…

Within the opening minutes it appeared like lastly the spark was again. Phil Foden drew a yellow-card foul inside a minute after which pulled the strings within the build-up to Metropolis’s early possibilities. However Foden hasn’t been on hearth for a while now and rapidly the embers pale out as Spurs scorched to an enormous win.

Final season’s participant of the 12 months has been nameless at first of this new season. After career-high figures for targets and assists final 12 months, Foden has managed only one help in 9 Premier League appearances this time period.

After being laid low by sickness early within the marketing campaign, Foden’s gametime has continued to be disrupted, with him pulling out of the November England squad earlier than beginning on Saturday.

Health, kind, momentum – none of it appears to be on Foden’s facet proper now, when Metropolis want their essential males to step up. When will we see the true, game-changing Foden emerge once more?
Peter Smith

Haaland’s wasteful ending

Haaland squandered quite a few possibilities in Manchester Metropolis’s defeat to Tottenham, failing to seek out the online along with his seven photographs. Haaland isn’t accountable for Guardiola’s defensive disaster however his kind in entrance of objective has dipped at a nasty time.

Three targets in eight Premier League video games may be passable for some strikers however for Haaland it’s a stoop – not least as a result of the possibilities have continued to come back. His anticipated targets whole in that eight-game interval is 7.04. He’s 4 targets brief.

No participant within the Premier League has underperformed by a larger margin than Haaland in that point. It value them towards Brighton and was the explanation why they failed to seek out the online for the primary time within the Premier League this season of their defeat to Spurs.

Haaland can’t take the blame for the 4 that went in on the different finish and can absolutely begin scoring closely once more quickly so long as the availability is there. However his below-par ending has been a consider Metropolis’s poor run of kind. Even he can’t escape criticism.
Adam Bate

Growing older squad wants refresh

Most of the points going through Guardiola come again to the identical challenge: an getting older squad. Towards Tottenham, 9 out of 14 gamers utilized by Manchester Metropolis had been 29 or older.

As famous on Saturday Evening Soccer, Manchester Metropolis have given the next proportion of minutes – 52.1 per cent – to gamers aged 29 or over than every other Premier League facet this season.

It’s only pure that sure people may be beginning to drop off.

Metropolis solely have a handful of gamers in what are generally thought-about ‘peak’ years, between 24 and 29, and arguably an important of these, Rodri, is after all sidelined for the season.

Guardiola insists he’s prepared for the problem that lies forward having prolonged his contract. The rebuild will must be intensive. However for now he wants to resolve issues on the fly.
Nick Wright