Pundit Steve Nicol criticised Pep Guardiola’s use of John Stones and Manuel Akanji against Aston Villa, believing it is ‘asking for too much’ for them to play in midfield together for Manchester City.
City crashed to a 1-0 defeat last night at Villa Park, with Unai Emery’s side deserved winners.
City produced one of their worst displays since Guardiola took charge, with Villa creating a plethora of chances and reducing City to just a couple in the whole game.
Villa were superior all over the park, and Pep now has a lot of work to do to get things back on track.
Last night, Rodri was unavailable for City through suspension and his absence was harmful.
Pundit Steve Nicol believes it was baffling for Pep to select Manuel Akanji and John Stones to play as holding midfielders…
Steve Nicol criticises Pep Guardiola for choosing John Stones and Manuel Akanji to play in midfield vs Aston Villa
It was always going to be very interesting to see what Guardiola would do last night, with Rodri unavailable.
We have seen Akanji utilised in the holding role while Stones has been out injured.
But he’s played in that role with Rodri also in the midfield next to him. Last night, Akanji and Stones both played in front of the defence – and it just did not work.
It was a decision that baffled former Liverpool defender Nicol, who said on ESPN FC: “In all honesty, three centre-backs? Gvardiol I guess of the three is the one that’s in a similar position to where he normally is. But if you’re expecting Akanji and Stones to start in a top Premier League game and produce what people like Rodri and De Bruyne do, then I think we’re asking for too much.
“I think it’s just caught up with them. You can’t get away with it time after time, after time. Today they got found out.”
Martin Keown said on Match of the Day last night that Akanji did not look ‘comfortable’ in his role.
A big risk that did not pay off
In hindsight, Guardiola’s team selection last night was a strange one.
£50 million signing Stones was coming back to play his first game after a few weeks on the sidelines and so, he was always going to be lacking that match sharpness.
To have him and Akanji both operating in front of the defence felt risky and it certainly did not pay off. Akanji has only really played in that role alongside Rodri, so to have him playing it alongside a player who has really struggled for minutes this season due to injury was strange.
Perhaps Bernardo Silva, who is capable of controlling games from the middle, should have played alongside Stones, with someone like Oscar Bobb playing out wide.
