It seems that whenever a situation arises which may cause Manchester City a problem Pep Guardiola has an answer.
The long-term injury to Fabian Delph left City with a headache at left-back with Benjamin Mendy unlikely to be back any sooner than March.
Right-back Danilo had filled in but in doing so stifled City’s attacking momentum, particularly against teams who sit in with 11 men behind the ball.
Enter 21-year-old attacking midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko to solve the problem. Just like Delph did before him, he slotted in well at full-back, adding verve to City’s left flank and always comfortable in possession.
Of course, he was caught out a couple of times (for Newcastle’s goal mainly) but he also completed more passes than any player in Europe this weekend (106) and is clearly his own harshest critic judging by post-match comments.
Guardiola was praising of Zinchenko’s efforts and hinted he may well get the chance to make the position his own in the games to come.
"He is a talented player - we insisted he was aggressive in the duels. He is loved because he is very nice, he always has a smile in bad moments.
"Now he has a chance because Mendy is out for a while and Delph is too,” Guardiola said after the 3-1 win over Newcastle.
🥇Most touches • 139
🥇Most accurate passes • 107
🥇Most possession • 11.6%
🥇Most successful tackles • 4
Because Manchester City need more brilliant young players.
Without wishing to tempt fate, it seems that whenever City have a problem, Guardiola is already two steps ahead.
City face two away trips in domestic cup competitions this week, taking a 2-1 home lead to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City on Tuesday night before heading to Cardiff in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.
And with league games against West Bromwich Albion (home), Burnley (away) and Leicester (home) to come, there is no reason why Zinchenko shouldn’t be playing a lot of football in the coming weeks.
I could be that in order to keep players happy and fresh that Danilo gets the nod against Bristol City, particularly given the lead City already have, but with a lot of the teams City face in the weeks to come likely to sit back, Zinchenko could feature more often than not.
What a chance for another young player to shine.
