Manchester City
and their bottomless pit of money can't solve their defensive problems, whether
it be Vincent Kompany's injuries, or in the last couple of years, Martin
Demichelis playing the odd game and making people ask the simple
question 'why is this man being paid?' Or letting one of the top
defenders in the world leave when the big money first came in Jerome
Boateng.
City's defensive
frailties are ongoing and don't seem to be coming to an end, even if the
mountainous Kompany manages to find a period where he can get out on
the pitch for a sustained period of time. So I'm going to look at what
they have at the moment and see if it's heading in the right direction.
Let's start with
older of what I feel are City's two main defenders at this moment in
time, Nicholas Otamendi. £34 million for the Argentine, which a couple
of years ago would have been a record transfer for a defender but in
this modern footballing world that's your going rate. This man came to
England with the reputation as a sturdy brick wall that keeps all that
try to scale it at bay, and with good reason. Playing in a defence that
only conceded 32 goals in their domestic season, a tally only bettered
by themselves back in the 03-04 season, the year Valencia last won La
Liga. You'd be a tad foolish to question whether this bloke can defend,
but a year and a half into his Manchester City career, these questions
are beginning to arise. What exactly are Otamendi's strengths as a
defender?
Physically he does
look the part, quite a muscular, very athletic looking build and
granted he does get around the pitch with ease. But I've felt he's
always been lacking defensively. His reading of the game doesn't seem to
be in tandem with his physical capabilities, his burst of speed to the
ball doesn't have a back up plan if he's not the winner of the first
encounter when going in for a tackle. He's at his peak and will struggle
to adapt to a lot of Guardiola's demands but he will be aided through
his physical capabilities, and perhaps a different type of defensive
partner than John Stones. I'm a big fan of Shkodran Mustafi, and it's my
belief Otamendi's last season in Valencia, where less goals were
conceded than games played, was down to his partner, Mustafi. I think
he's shown this with his recent move to Arsenal, not a foot has been put
wrong, a shaky defence that's not had many changes over the years
brings in one player and they're touted as potential Champions, more so
than in previous years.
In summary, my
view of Otamendi is he's a good defender who was partnered with a even
better one in Mustafi, and of the two, Manchester City have chosen the
more expensive less capable option, and think this may have also been
down to Manuel Pellegrini who from my perspective, preferred a South
American in his squad due to his own nationality.
Now it's time to
talk about England's own John Stones. First of all, yes he's overhyped.
Yes he's not great defensively and yes his transfer fee is one to be
questioned on certain performances but, let's not forget why he's
thought of so highly; because of his good performances. Even
defensively, his best game I've seen him play was, ironically, against
his new employees, Manchester City, not only controlling the game from
the heart of defence but also ensuring no stacks were mounted against
his Goalkeeper by mopping up what was infront of him. And a lot more
good performances to add, but with what is expected of John Stones, when
mistakes are made, he's dragged right back down, told to go back to the
'basics of Defending', but why curtail the way he plays? Why force him
into playing a style that doesn't allow him to play to his strengths? I
feel this criticism stems from where he comes from, England, where a
sense of patriotism comes from seeing your big centre half put his toe
through the ball, hitting an away fan square in the face and then
jogging away. Fantastic, you've gave your opponent the ball, round of
applause.
This is John
Stones' downfall. The fans expectation of a English Central Defender.
The games moved on from kicking it away, it's came to a point where a
shot at goal can be started from any position on the pitch, even from
your goalkeeper, but I'll leave that for another article!
I think for John
Stones to get better defensively he doesn't need to start kicking into
touch when all avenues are being closed off. He needs to be applauded
for trying to spring a trap on the opponent, to make something happen,
he needs to refine his current playing style which Pep Guardiolla is
encouraging. When his current style reaches the heights it should his
defensive ability will shine.
Stones is closing
in on 100 premier league appearances which for his age is a great
testament to his ability. It shows he has the quality to play at the
highest level, currently on 90 appearances he's lost 28 of those games.
It's from these losses he will have learned from. How to adapt his game.
And the Loss against Leicester will resonate with him for a lengthy
period of time. The passing side of his game was brought into question
when he played in Jamie Vardy to complete his Hat-trick in the 4-2
defeat to Leicester. Physically he still needs to bulk up I feel, it
can't hinder his game.
I think at this
moment in time, both of these centre backs are not a good match and it's
a shame, when it comes to defences I don't think many are better than
their partners. It's a pairing made to work to make ones weakness
diminish and compliment the other's strengths and at this moment at
Manchester City, the two
main defensive
options available to me are not a great compatible match. I personally
see a cross roads coming for the club, where a decision has to be made
on who stays in the Sky Blue kit and who will go onto pastures new.
Age and ability
coming into factor I think City need to make a defence that allows Johns
Stones to be more expressive, less anxious and allows him to reach the
heights that his team and country need him to.
