Manchester City’s defensive capitulation at Anfield last weekend wasn’t anything new for Pep Guardiola sides, with the Catalan coach occasionally conceding heavily in fixtures against fellow top teams. It’s a rare occurrence and certainly not enough to warrant a thorough examination of his principles, but it can leave the players within his defence looking perplexed.
Nicolas Otamendi was the most culpable for mistakes, as he gave away the ball not only under pressure but when he had more time to make the pass. The Argentine looked like the centre-back of two years ago that had struggled with the adaptation to the Premier League, although he was also vulnerable against Liverpool earlier in the season until Sadio Mane was sent-off.
Otamendi has signed a contract extension this week, so perhaps most worryingly for Guardiola will be the form of John Stones. The defender was excellent at the start of the season and appeared to have acclimatised to his manager’s demands.
“John knows what is the gap and where he has to improve, defending the duels, but he's so young and he is able to achieve that,” said Guardiola in September. “When he does, he will become an exceptional central defender."
City kept 10 clean sheets in the 16 matches that the former Everton centre-back started and there was no doubting his increase in concentration. It helped that he had a goalkeeper behind him that inspired confidence when playing out from the back.
However, he picked up a hamstring injury against Leicester City, having played 90 minutes for England in their friendlies with Germany and Brazil the week before. The 23-year-old returned at the start of the New Year when he replaced Vincent Kompany in the first XI against Watford.
His sliced clearance in the next game against Burnley allowed Ashley Barnes to give the away team a surprise lead and then he conceded the penalty in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg when he took Bobby Reid’s feet away from him.
He was certainly at fault when he was easily shrugged off the ball by Roberto Firmino in the 4-3 clash with Liverpool, whilst he could have done better with at least two of the other three goals in the defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s men. These high-profile mistakes have naturally led to criticism, but he clearly isn’t fully up to speed.
Kompany’s injury and Mangala’s incompetence has led to Stones playing more games than Guardiola would have anticipated in his comeback. The England international will need patience to regain the level that he was showing earlier in the campaign.
He is clearly lacking belief in his body and fitness at present, which will naturally affect his decision making. Stones is second-guessing his positioning and compromising his own game due to the errors alongside him.
Guardiola’s methods will expose his defenders when it occasionally goes wry due to the difficult nature of such a high-line and the passing from the back. Stones is also far from the finished article and has much improvement to make, as he still only young for his role.
Rio Ferdinand was a year older than Stones when he became the world’s most expensive defender in moving to Manchester United, whilst Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos is the same age. The Brazilian has been rotated in and out of Unai Emery’s side this season and there’s certainly less pressure placed upon his shoulders.
