Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are spoilt for choice with a full squad available. Last night’s comfortable 3-1 win over Burnley was the first time in recent memory that the champions had a full squad available for selection.
So far this season Manchester City has been bitten by the injury bug. Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland have all missed large stretches of the season with injuries. On top of that niggling injuries to Manuel Akanji, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nathan Ake have robbed Pep Guardiola of the opportunity to utilize his entire first-team squad.
While the injuries have robbed City of key players it hasn’t stopped the champions. They have positioned themselves well for the second half of the season despite the injuries. Given the amount of games the City squad play injuries are to be expected. It doesn’t make them any less of an inconvenience despite that fact.
Last night’s game at the Etihad was one of the rare times that City had their full squad available. While it is good for Guardiola to have his entire squad available it also gives him more flexibility. It allows him to rest key players and also allows Guardiola the option to make the tactical tweaks with his selection a full squad provides. The City manager is a tactical genius but it is an advantage his team can exploit further with a fully fit squad.
Following City’s win Kevin De Bruyne spoke of the importance of having a fully fit squad. He said: “I think for the first time this season we’ve had a full squad, apart from Akanji. That’s not happened for us. Everybody gets injuries. If everyone gets back we will be really competitive and it can only help us.”
With a fully fit squad, Pep Guardiola is spoilt for choice. The hope is now the health of the squad can be maintained in Manchester City’s treble defence.
