Rodri’s absence is still causing Man City new problems – just ask Bernardo Silva

Bernardo Silva was backmost astatine the segment of possibly his top extremity for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola was eulogising 1 of his favourite footballers. Once he could savour a spectacular volley astatine Villa Park. Now, successful defeat, it was his willingness to activity and his adaptability that drew the latest of galore tributes. “Bernardo is simply a typical subordinate for me; really he put his bosom successful those positions,” said Guardiola. “He is an unthinkable illustration for us, really he behaves. He plays attacking midfielder, holding midfielder, ever defensively making an unthinkable effort.”

It hasn’t been a vintage play for Silva. And yet, dissimilar successful past years, he would get successful the City squad 3 times: too his normal berth connected the correct wing, he astir apt represents the champion disposable action successful this depleted, invariably defeated group arsenic a No 8 and, arsenic the only campaigner pinch capable mobility, arsenic the holding midfielder. If Guardiola could clone the Portuguese, he surely would. In a spell that has shown location are limits to his powers, he has a solitary Silva and he has overworked him. A diminutive fig tin look smaller arsenic he is tally into the ground.

It was telling that Silva vanished Saturday’s 2-1 nonaccomplishment to Aston Villa as City’s deepest midfielder. The 2 men who person mostly filled that domiciled since Rodri was injured, Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic, were some taken off. Each had been incapable to woody pinch Youri Tielemans, to forestall him from playing defence-splitting passes, and Morgan Rogers, to halt his driving runs. Each extremity could beryllium traced to the deficiency of a genuine protect midfielder.

It has near Guardiola pinch a regular refrain. “The solution is to bring the players back,” he said. But the astir important will not return until the summer. For a head who has spent much than £1.2bn astatine the Etihad, Guardiola tin person an aversion to buying.

City’s first scheme was not to acquisition a short-term replacement for Rodri. They realised immoderate target would beryllium deterred by the probability he would only beryllium a first prime for 5 months. If that logic still stands, the discourse has changed. City person mislaid 9 successful 12. They knew Rodri would beryllium a large loss, but not this big. Everything has been worse than they anticipated. “I thought it would beryllium a difficult play but I didn’t expect that, to beryllium honest,” said Guardiola.

And truthful the reasons for buying person mushroomed. City, losing to and leapfrogged by Villa connected Saturday, dropped retired of the 5th spot that will astir apt bring Champions League football. They whitethorn person speculated to accumulate successful the past. Now the lawsuit for buying is successful part to protect their income: it reached £715m past season, but that included the costs from being Champions League quarter-finalists.

It rendered it stranger, then, that City’s existent stance is that they are not willing successful either Martin Zubimendi aliases Bruno Guimaraes, 2 players who person attracted their attraction successful the past. Zubimendi has a merchandise clause that is easy activated, moreover if his loyalty to Real Sociedad meant he rejected a move to Liverpool last summer. Guimaraes had a merchandise clause City opted not to utilise successful June: £100m whitethorn person felt an excessive value – it surely seems truthful for Jack Grealish, the only player to costs them that much – but location were reasons to salary complete the likelihood for the Brazilian.

Part of City’s rationale is that a master holding midfielder would soon beryllium sat connected the chair erstwhile Rodri was connected the pitch. Guimaraes, though, is some a No 6 and a No 8, a imaginable partner, anchor aliases substitute. That versatility intends that had City beaten Arsenal to Declan Rice successful 2023, he could person been a likewise multifaceted midfielder, taking connected different duties depending connected strategies and Rodri’s availability. When Kalvin Phillips arrived, City hoped he could play successful some positions. The unpleasant astonishment was Guardiola deciding he could run successful neither.

He tin beryllium choosy astir holding midfielders. Rodri only arrived aft an exhaustive hunt for Fernandinho’s semipermanent replacement, moreover if to revisit immoderate of City’s targets during that play – Jorginho, Fred, Frenkie de Jong – is to realise really different they are and, for each their attributes, really each lacks the Spaniard’s blend of the constructive and the destructive.

Factor successful the accepted difficulties of the January model and the probability that City’s plight would let immoderate sellers to raise their value and it would beryllium difficult to root a signing remotely of Rodri’s calibre. If immoderate of the outstanding protect midfielders successful the game, whether Guimaraes, Zubimendi aliases Joshua Kimmich, whose Bayern Munich statement expires adjacent summer, is disposable and interested, that could consciousness ideal.

But if not, pinch 27 goals conceded successful 12 games, pinch each denotation that Kovacic and Gundogan cannot shield the defence and that Guardiola’s strategy does not activity without the stableness they mislaid pinch Rodri, tin City spend to beryllium picky now? The Catalan’s shot whitethorn beryllium excessively analyzable for plug-and-play signings but the lawsuit for a discuss signing is growing, for personification who tin statement them up successful the short term.

Guardiola has been capable to telephone upon Sergio Busquets, Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso successful his managerial career. Rodri outstripped moreover them by winning the Ballon d’Or. But now for City, immoderate master protect midfielder, immoderate their limitations, could beryllium amended than none. And without an arrival, Silva could person to walk much clip scurrying astir successful beforehand of the defence.