Borussia Monchengladbach 1 Manchester City 1: Pep Guardiola’s confusion over how many men to play in defence is holding his team back
Fernandinho often played centre-defence, often centre-midfield, in the Champions League draw in Germany
Sponsored by
“IT will be four — sometimes three. We will see what works.”
So said Pep Guardiola before kick-off when asked about how his defence would line up.
And it looked like he did start the match with a three-man backline, later switching to four.
Keep up to date with ALL the MANCHESTER CITY news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary by clicking HERE
City got the point they needed to book a place in the last 16 for a fourth successive year — but it was all a bit too harum-scarum at times against a side only halfway up the German league and hopelessly out of form.
Fernandinho was named on the teamsheet at centre-half but began as a holding midfielder, dropping back when he had to.
Presumably the Brazilian, 31, knew what his role was but it did not always look like it in a chaotic opening half.
He did have a brief spell at centre-back before a needless second yellow card ended his night half an hour early.
No doubt about it, the 35th injury of Vincent Kompany’s City career has given Guardiola a puzzle.
The Belgian will not play again this year and the January transfer window will be open by the time he returns from his knee problem.
Guardiola was keen to bring two centre-backs to the Etihad in the summer but in the end chose to give Kompany another chance.
The 30-year-old skipper means a lot to this club. He has been a figurehead, both on and off the pitch, since the takeover in 2008.
Yet Guardiola had doubts about his physical state after his appointment was confirmed in February. He’s been impressed by Kompany since — with his ability at least, if not his fitness record.
Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte was the man he wanted before the Frenchman surprised everyone by signing a new deal in Spain.
So does he now go looking for another centre-half or continue to tinker with what he has got?
City had not kept a clean sheet in their previous nine away matches in this competition — and you never got the feeling they would end that run here.
Related Stories
In fact, shut-outs have been hard to come by under Guardiola, with only two from 12 Prem games.
It took an off-form home side just 23 minutes to break the deadlock with City’s defence wide open down the left as Raffael scored. At that point, the coach was gesturing wildly in the direction of his defenders, trying to get his message across and bringing Jesus Navas further back.
Guardiola’s men needed to avoid a four-goal defeat to stay in charge of their own destiny and at one point you began to wonder if the unthinkable could happen.
In terms of recognised senior centre-backs who are fit, Guardiola only really has John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.
He likes Aleksandar Kolarov there but the Serb has been exposed by the top-quality teams.
City have high hopes that Tosin Adarabioyo — a 19-year-old born and bred Mancunian — will make the breakthrough but he has been used sparingly up to now.
So how will City get through what looks a busy and challenging December which includes visits from Chelsea and Arsenal as well as a trip to Liverpool?
Don’t be surprised to see Fernandinho playing as a bona fide centre-back rather than trying to juggle two roles.
During the summer tour of China, Guardiola said: “I think Fernandinho can play in ten different positions. He’s quick, aggressive, intelligent and strong in the air. He has the quality to create good build-up play.”
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip ahead of the January window with SunSport's daily LIVE blog
And sure enough, there he was slotting into the back four after the restart, with Otamendi heading out to the right.
Yet can he afford to lose the ex-Shakhtar Donetsk man from his midfield having been one of the players of the season so far?
By that stage City had got themselves level thanks to David Silva’s close-range finish.
But Fernandinho’s red card forced another defensive reshuffle — and we can probably expect more in the games to come.
Kompany is assured of his place in City’s history books by twice lifting the Premier League trophy.
But maybe now is the time to bring in his replacement and start planning for life without him.