In this week’s Manchester City Manifesto, City picked up another win in the Premier League at the weekend, but that’s not all that happened. Star centre-back Aymeric Laporte was taken off injured in the 37th minute of the 4-0 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion. As we await the diagnosis, Manchester City could have a real problem on their hands; or not.
Manchester City Manifesto
Latest on Laporte
It was quite possibly the worst person to get injured. Only Ederson would have been a bigger blow than Aymeric Laporte going off on Saturday against Brighton. It’s horrible for the Frenchman having just been called up to the national squad after Didier Deschamps ignored his quality for years. Fate is cruel.
They knew immediately that Laporte was going to pull out after the injury. An announcement came on Saturday night, but still, there has been no announcement about the injury since. Obviously we will provide an immediate update when we can.
Fernandinho
The moment Laporte went down the first person sent to warm up was Fernandinho. As many who know him would expect, Pep Guardiola was ready to try the unexpected almost immediately. It wasn’t the first time that Fernandinho has played at centre-back, but it was a signal as to his new long-term position.
He has always been suited to a late-career move to centre-back. Fernandinho has excelled at covering for other players caught out of position. He has, by design, been the safety-valve for the rest of the team to rely on. That role doesn’t change as he moves to centre-back, just his location on the pitch does.
Manchester City 4-0 Brighton
As for the game itself, it was a simple waltz from City. They have far too much talent for Brighton to compete at the same level, but giving up a goal in the first minute is a pretty bad way to start your effort. It was a picturesque City goal, with David Silva getting in behind and cutting it back for Kevin De Bruyne.
From there, it was route one. Sergio Aguero got in on the act a couple of times before Bernardo Silva came on and immediately scored City’s fourth. There was no real tactical nuance, no Pep Guardiola inspired tweak, just one team having way more talent than another.
Manchester City Women
Saturday marks the start of the FA Women’s Super League season and there is plenty to talk about. Firstly, for the first time, the Women’s Super League will be broadcast outside of England. You can watch all the games at this address, all you need to do is make an FA account.
First up will be the first Manchester Derby in Women’s Super League history. Manchester United are in their first Super League season, but they are on a different plain than Manchester City. City are hungry and ready to win silverware, and that quest starts on Saturday.
EDS Update
Finally, let’s take a look at the EDS team’s first victory of the season. City finally got onto their winning foot thanks to a team meeting as told by defender Joel Latibeaudiere: “We’ve been building up to this. We trained well this week and we had a team meeting. The players got together in the changing room, just by ourselves. It was a group decision. A few of the leaders got together, pulled the team in and we said what we needed to say.”
It’s such a great sign of the maturity of the group to be able to hold one of these meetings. It shows an understanding and commitment to one another that these men should carry with them through life. But on the field, they tore Liverpool apart 4-1 getting their first win of the season heading into the international break.
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