Manchester City’s title-winning starting XI looked remarkably different to the undroppable team during last season’s treble run-in.
Josko Gvardiol celebrates having won his first Premier League title
Manchester City’s starting XI that won the treble last season was so locked in that there was no room for Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez or Aymeric Laporte. Even Kyle Walker was booted out in the Champions League final.
Nathan Ake had solved the long-standing left-back issue, Jack Grealish had put a difficult first year behind him to prove invaluable on the left-wing, and Bernardo Silva was a positional maestro on the opposite flank.
This year, however, the names who have been forced out are maybe more surprising. Grealish has struggled for consistency and only started one of the last six games of City’s run-in. Similarly, John Stones started one of the last nine games, playing just 77 minutes across three appearances.
Part of their struggles to rediscover their form from 12 months ago was due to their injury and fitness issues. Guardiola has no room for sentiment and prioritises players in form. That’s why Manu Akanji played a key role in last season’s treble success and was undroppable this term – starting 15 of the last 16 matches in all competitions, playing 96 per cent of available minutes in that time.
Guardiola had explained Stones’ omissions a week earlier at Fulham, pointing to the form of Akanji and Ake as reasons why they deserved to start. There was a hint that Stones needed to show a little more, but the feeling was this was more down to others earning the shirt on merit.
Josko Gvardiol’s form on the left of defence also kept Stones out, and Ake on the final day after he was injured. Gvardiol proved himself as the best left-back option in the squad, and with Akanji surging to the top of the centre-back hierarchy, that left Ruben Dias, Ake and Stones to fight for the remaining spot – a trio who all started the Champions League final.
Dias returned for the final three games of the season and made you wonder why he had managed to go four games without a start before that. Ake’s injury came at a bad time, and Stones simply didn’t have the time to play his way back into form.
“For me as a defender playing forward, being today more in the middle [inverting inside] it’s something I’m not used to,” Gvardiol reflected after the title win. “But what I’m trying to do is be there and do the work that the manager has told me. I think I did a good job and it’s going to be better [next season].”
It’s encouraging that Gvardiol – scorer of five key goals in seven games during the run-in, plus assisting another – isn’t entirely pleased with his performances. He’s on the same page as his manager on that front, but he has still been too good not to include. To keep Ake out tells its own story.
Ahead of Gvardiol on the left-wing was Jeremy Doku, a surprise inclusion on the final day. Mateo Kovacic had been the sixth selection in midfield and attack in recent weeks, assisting Rodri and allowing the forwards to shine.
Guardiola wanted more attacking against West Ham, though, aware of Doku’s relentless performance in the reverse fixture. It was telling that Doku got the nod ahead of Grealish to start on the left, but he justified his inclusion with a timely assist for Foden’s second goal, after winning the game-killing (and potentially title-sealing) penalty at Spurs a few days earlier.
“I knew the coach wasn’t going to give me anything without working for it,” he reflected after the game. “I had to do everything myself and show him that I deserve to be here. And I think I’ve done that. If he trusts me in important games like this one, it means I did a good job. So for a first season, I’m satisfied.”
Doku ends the campaign (with one game left) on five goals and ten assists from 42 appearances, only 20 coming from the start. He has a goal and assist every 141 minutes – roughly a game and a half – with his average appearance lasting 50 minutes. Guardiola called upon him at home to Luton between Champions League games and he returned with a goal and assist. Doku came off the bench in the next six games to see out various types of win, before earning his start vs West Ham.
More importantly, though is Doku’s theory that he has gained Guardiola’s trust. That is something far more valuable to City than his goals return, Grealish’s stats last year being a case in point.
The impact of Doku at Anfield in March, called upon by Guardiola to calm things down, helped secure a useful point. At the time he was the complete opposite of calm – more a chaotic, exciting, transitional winger. But he did exactly what his manager wanted and has quietly been a game-changing option off the bench ever since en route to the title.
Gvardiol and Doku were not cheap by any stretch, but they weren’t exactly expected to play such an important role this season. One cost £77m, the most City have spent on a defender, and the other £55m. Gvardiol is five months older than Doku, who turns 22 next week. Their purchases were offset somewhat by £96m of sales at centre-back and right-wing over the summer.
When Gvardiol spun out of trouble against West Ham, played in Erling Haaland, and Doku then set up Foden, it was justification of City’s eye-catching outlay on two youngsters last summer. They have both made mistakes, but also listened to the manager, put the work in, and earned starting spots on the final day decider to win their first Premier League titles.
It sends a message to their more experienced teammates that they are here to stay. The future is bright for City’s new left-wing partnership.