da dobrowin： Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge of Manchester City is a scenario of the kind the Catalan hasn’t experienced since his very early days at Barcelona. Yet there’s also something uniquely British about the approach which seems to have been foisted on him this season: he’s had to make do and mend.
da lvbet： The defence has been the problem, even if he has fashioned one of the most fearsome and exciting attacks in world football. A lot of those problems at the back, though, have stemmed from Vincent Kompany.
The City captain is one of the best central defenders in the world, and if the best defences in the league are invariably the ones who finish in the top places, that just shows all the more what a Titan of the Titans he really is: a league-winning captain who protected his goal alongside players like Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure and Stefan Savic. It’s tempting to say that Kompany has done the job for more than one player for most of his City career, but then that would probably do the Belgian an injustice. He’s probably done the job of even more than two at times.
But maybe that’s the problem. City’s powerful lion may well have been overexerted close to the point of early retirement. And yet, if you’d told Blues fans before the Chelsea game at Stamford Bridge that they could either see their side win the game and lose Kompany, or watch City lose the game but see the Belgian international come through 90 minutes unscathed, having the captain back would surely be the answer. There is a glimmer of hope, then.
His injury problems, though, are one of the reasons that City’s defence has such a makeshift feel to it this season. Last summer, the City board gave the manager the licence to replace Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo, as well as – seemingly – Yaya Toure with Ilkay Gundogan. Replacing the club captain straight away was probably a step too far, though there’s no firm suggestion that Guardiola actually wanted to anyway.
City’s difficulties finding a central defender over the past few years – including the stupid fees payed for Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi – prove that the position is one where there is only limited quality across the world. In Kompany, City really do have one of the best in terms of talent and reliability: if he is fit, there is no doubt that Guardiola could use him.
But that’s the issue. The elegance of John Stones coupled with the power of Kompany would give City what is arguably the perfect centre back balance – a real yin and yang. And so Guardiola has made do without his captain in the (so far vain) hope that the Belgian would come back and play a crucial role.
So replacing him would be premature. If Kompany can come back, there are only a handful of centre backs in world football who could replace him adequately and immediately. None of whom would have anything like the connection to the city and the club.
This summer will be crucial, then. At this point, there is no way Kompany can prove his fitness short of playing most of next season. But there is also no way City can go without buying a new central defender in the absence of certain fitness. There is huge potential for a ‘damned if you do’ situation.
The problem is, you can’t half replace Kompany. No top defender will agree to come to the Etihad just to sit on the bench if it turns out the captain is fit, and even if the new man ends up replacing Stones, then you’ve wasted £50m on him instead. But at the same time, City’s defensive problems are so obvious that Guardiola can’t go for another season without another top class defender.
And there’s the dilemma – does Kompany need to be replaced? Or is there a way City can leave the door open for the captain’s return without buying anyone new – or at least someone who won’t simply be a waste of money if Kompany regains a prolonged period of fitness.
There’s no doubting the quality of Vincent Kompany, or indeed his importance to the team, and the wider club as a whole. But precisely because he is so important, his injury problems have left Pep Guardiola in a very awkward position. And this summer is now huge for both men.
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