Pep Guardiola has been made aware of one glowing weakness in Man City’s play (Image: Getty)
Despite their dominant win over Ipswich Town, Manchester City have started to show signs of one worrying chink in their armour. And Micah Richards believes solving this particular weakness could prove critical to their title hopes this season.
City battered Ipswich 4-1 on Saturday, but only after the Premier League newcomers opened up a shock lead. And the surprise setback was largely City’s own doing.
There weren’t too many holes one could pick out of Pep Guardiola’s side in the face of such a dominant comeback victory. However, bigger teams than Ipswich could punish City a lot more severely if one issue persists – and it plagued them last season too.
“I don’t want to be too critical and picky, but in terms of a team who have just come to the Premier League [Ipswich], and in terms of turnovers in the middle of the field,” said Richards on Match of the Day. “Okay, Rodri wasn’t playing today, but it is a little bit of a weakness.”
The MOTD crew then had another look at Ipswich’s early breakthrough at the Etihad, which stemmed from City giving the ball away near the visitors’ box. Kieran McKenna’s side broke quickly up the other end of the field, which ended with Sammie Szmodics converting past Ederson.
Richards continued: “[Jeremy] Doku doesn’t track the run, Johnson makes a lovely pass, Rico Lewis sleeping, and it’s a good finish by Szmodics. And I just think these are the little bits they could improve on. Because last season, goals conceded from fast breaks – seven!”
Sammie Szmodics exploited a big hole in City’s game (Image: Getty)
By comparison, that figure is more than the number of goals City conceded from fast breaks in the previous three campaigns combined (six). And this season’s tally is already up and running thanks to the Tractor Boys.
Richards went on to note Arsenal “are looking better this season”, suggesting they may be the team to capitalise and win a first Premier League crown in two decades. However, host Gary Lineker joked his colleague was perhaps “nitpicking.”
Micah Richards found the fault in his old side (Image: Getty)
Guardiola may not think as much, however, as he’s perhaps more interested in any weaknesses his team have than anyone else. And he’ll be the first to try and patch up any hint of vulnerability on the break.
City have already shown they are human and can be damaged this season, even if an Erling Haaland hat-trick can get them out of most sticky situations. The champions, of course, won’t always be able to rely on the Norwegian to bail them out.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1940277/manchester-city-ipswich-guardiola-richards-rodri