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30th December 2018
04:51pm GMT

And Guardiola always knew that this was coming. City did all they could to sign Jorginho from Napoli but failed due to the player's desire to follow Maurizio Sarri to Chelsea. He had to come up with other solutions.
The Community Shield between City and Chelsea saw the Spaniard experiment with John Stones in the holding midfield role for a short spell towards the end of the game that was already won. He demonstrated the necessary composure on the ball and ability to play calm, simple passes that we all know he can play, but wasn't tested defensively in the midfield area and offered little creativity.
Guardiola has also tried deploying Ilkay Gündogan in this position, but he lacks the defensive solidity to play as a single pivot against good opposition.
They've not uncovered a deputy for their Brazilian leader and his thigh injury has caused untold damage. On Sunday he was back, on Sunday City were back.
Against Southampton at St Mary's, City looked more assured defensively (bar Southampton's goal which came from a Zinchenko mistake). They also benefited from his lofted through balls in behind to their wingers.
No other player in the City squad has his combination of strength in the tackle, ability to read the game and make interceptions, his burst of pace out of a tight space, and composure under pressure.
A lot has been made of City suffering without Benjamin Mendy and Kevin De Bruyne, both of whom have missed most of this season through injury, but recent results have shown us that there's one player in the squad they really can't do without: Fernandinho.Explore more on these topics: