There is no getting away from the fact this is a humungous sequence of games. What matters on Saturday for City is beating Chelsea and just restoring a level of composure to attack the rest of the season. It’s an expensive business following any Premier League club now and not everyone can afford it but I’m sure this issue will pass. Things, however, have admittedly changed since it was £20 to get into Maine Road and there were only League and occasional Cup games to attend.
There are many who have been there through thick and thin. Guardiola of course has had a well-documented recent exchange with fans about the numbers attending home games and whilst I believe his words were initially taken out of context, it may have served as a reminder of the importance in publicly showing he appreciates the soul of the club, which I do believe he does.Ĭity will be roared on by their passionate fans in the away end at all three grounds in the coming ten days and that hard-core of supporters is as good as any other club. The man who will have most influence on this period, however, is Guardiola and I would go as far to say as this is one of the biggest weeks he has faced since he has been at the club, trying to outwit Tuchel, then Mauricio Pochettino and, finally, Jurgen Klopp all away from the Etihad. I don’t see these three games passing without him having an influence. He still has another level to go in terms of his form and I always believe when City are on song then Raheem will be in the team. One of the aspects I admire most about Raheem is his ability to overcome adversity. He’s only scored three goals for City since February 21st in his last 24 appearances, which is at odds to what he’s been doing for England. Sterling, as it stands, is tending to find himself as the odd man out.
You then have Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Feran Torres and Raheem Sterling to fit in to a couple of spots.
He made it work last season but how does Guardiola do it again? When you spend £100million on someone, as City did with Jack Grealish, he is going to start. They arguably needed that player two summers ago, never mind two months ago, before the attempt to sign Harry Kane and then Cristiano Ronaldo ended in failure. It surprised me that City didn’t buy a number nine in the summer. The concern on the other hand for City this weekend, will be if a hangover remains from what happened when the teams met in Porto in May. Chelsea look ominous – I was at Tottenham last week and they won there, comprehensively, without hitting top gear – and Tuchel has surprised me with how quick he has joined the elite managers.Įvery decision Tuchel makes right now is coming off and Chelsea are a team with momentum and confidence because of it. Guardiola will be no different, in that he will be anxious about the outcome at Stamford Bridge. They finish their week of away trips against in-form title rivals Liverpool on October 3Īs a player, when you come up against an opponent who gets the better of you, it plays on your mind ahead of the next time you face them and you ask yourself questions: Will they do it to me again? What can I do to stop them? How will I cope on my own?