One thing which has been constant apart from poor refereeing this season has been Manchester City’s shambolic defending. They were extremely brittle at the back even last season and the arrival of Pep Guardiola has changed nothing in that regard. In fact, now they are worse off in goal and that has led them to be one of the easiest teams to score against once you reach their box. And that can’t be music to the ears of someone who aspires to dominate globally with this team.
They have issues in goal and in central defence and in the fullback areas. That is then everything that constitutes a defensive mechanism and it is quite evident that Pep Guardiola will make wholesale changes, especially in defence in the summer. City had decided to focus on the midfield and in the attacking areas in the last summer but it does not seem to have been the best decision in hindsight.
The team’s balance doesn’t look the great and Stones’ arrival has not solved anything in the short term. The four fullbacks Pep has at his disposal are all above 30 and considering the fact that the Catalan’s high-intensity approach, especially from his wide players, requires endless energy and tireless running along with a strong technical base, this was maybe not the best decision taken by the former Barcelona manager not to invest in a fullback,
On top of that, he has sent out Maffeo and Angelino on loan, the two future stars at right-back and left-back respectively. The decision has baffled many considering the struggle they have already had this season before sending them out. But Pep will be aware of the consequences of the decisions he has taken, or so the club will at least hope!
The next summer is expected to see a complete overhaul of the defence and one such player who has been strongly linked with coming on board is Bayern Munich left-back Juan Bernat.
The 23-year-old Spain international Juan Bernat is undoubtedly a talented player, but the presence of the even better David Alaba at the Allianz Arena has limited his time on the pitch this season. Bernat has started just 4 games at left-back in the Bundesliga, compared to Alaba’s 14 starts there.
Pep had signed the player from Valencia while at Bayern Munich and if things go his way, he might do the same while at Manchester City. The Spaniard has all the pre-requisites for a Pep Guardiola left-back.
He is skilful, is strong technically, he has pace and is sound defensively as well. He averages an impressive 88.1% pass accuracy in all competitions this season. Capped 7 times for Spain since 2014, he has made 86 appearances in three seasons at Bayern, but the chance to work with Pep again and play more regularly may appeal to him.
