Manchester City: Will injuries prove to be their Achilles heel?
Will player injuries prove to be the undoing of Manchester City as they try to win an unprecedented four major trophies during this season?
Manchester City won another match this week, as their so far almost totally serene progress towards a unique quadruple continues.
However, despite their latest comfortable victory over Cardiff City in the FA Cup fourth round, City suffered another potentially serious injury. This time it was Leroy Sane who was hurt as City overcame robust opponents, playing in the style their manager Neil Warnock is renowned for.
City has been playing some truly brilliant football at times this season, although they have not quite hit the heights of earlier performances in recent games. Their form has brought comparisons with the best sides in premier league history and they were being talked of as possibly the best ever side.
An almost impossible quadruple and going unbeaten all season in the premier league were on the lips of many pundits. Liverpool’s breathless 4-3 win over the league leaders might have ended their hopes of going unbeaten for the entire league campaign and exposed some previously unseen weakness.
But since then City have returned to winning ways, overcoming a spirited Bristol City in the league cup semi-final before beating Cardiff last weekend. However the cost of this four-front trophy hunt is mounting.
Sane’s injury is a major blow coming on top of the absences of the likes of Vincent Company, David Silva and Gabriel Jesus. And it underlines what I think is the biggest challenge for Pep Guardiola’s team. Manchester City does have a big squad, but the demands of competing for four major prizes are beginning to hit them hard.
Of the four trophies, most pundits reckon the Champions League will be the hardest to win. But I think it is domestically that Manchester City will find it most difficult to secure the clean sweep.
Despite City’s fine run of form, they are coming up against some really determined sides in the Cup competitions. Next up for them in the FA Cup is a Wigan side buoyed by a superb win over another Premier League team West Ham United. Of course it’s also a re-run of the 2013 final, when Wigan upset City to claim an unlikely Cup win.
These lower league sides often tend to play more physical football and will be gunning for City’s scalp; beating Pep’s team might be their season’s highlight. Playing premier league opponents will not necessarily provide many unexpected situations. But these teams just might surprise Guardiola’s side, as Bristol City clearly did.
City of course have further premier league games and then a league cup final against Arsenal at the end of February. Arsenal will have new forwards signings (like Henrik Mkhitaryan and possibly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang) and will be going for what is probably their best chance of a trophy this season.
To add to the pressures on Manchester City, local rivals Manchester United have beaten them to the signing of Alexis Sanchez in this transfer window. Despite the apparently relaxed attitude displayed by City to Sanchez’s move, I think they will have been unsettled by this turn of events.
More from Manchester City
- Manchester City and their enigmatic coach stand on the cusp of greatness
- Three challenges Manchester City might face in upcoming season
- 3 potential destinations for Raheem Sterling next season
- Manchester City officially announce Erling Haaland signing
- Gabriel Jesus set for Manchester City departure
His signing would also have eased the pressure on City’s strikers, with Jesus still not quite fully fit and Sergio Aguero always injury prone. The arrival of Sanchez at Man United might also just help spark a renewed challenge from them in the title race.
Although the premier leagues looks like City’s most obvious route to a trophy at the moment as they have a very commanding lead in the league, nothing is certain yet. There is still another three months of premier league matches to be played.
Of all the players who might get hurt it’s probably Kevin de Bruyne whose long-term absence would worry Guardiola most. So far despite the number of games he’s played de Bruyne has stayed relatively fit, apart from a brief spell out in the new year.
Guardiola has been vocal about the demands of so much football on his players and how much of a toll it takes. I do think there is a case for a short winter break in early January although it is hard to see how that would be managed without a smaller premier league.
Next: Neville appointment fiasco
So it is injuries, if they keep coming, which perhaps more than the form of their rivals, could prove to be ultimately more telling as the pressure of competing for so much silverware increases.