After being unable to force his way into Pep Guardiola’s team for the biggest games last year, Julian Alvarez has taken the opportunity that opened up with Kevin De Bruyne’s injury and made himself – in the words of the manager – “almost undroppable”. His match-winning turn from the bench at RB Leipzig has surely cemented his place in the XI when the Blues head to Arsenal for their most important match of the Premier League campaign so far.
As Phil Foden said in midweek, the team now trust and rely on Alvarez to deliver in big moments. Through goals and assists, the 23-year-old has actually been involved in more game-changing moments than Erling Haaland this season.
At the same time though, what pleased Guardiola so much against RB Leipzig in what was probably the closest City performance to their heights of last season was the control. They dominated possession from the opening minutes and the coach is adamant that “nice, nice things will happen” when you do that.
They did this, it should be noted, without Alvarez in the team. His absence wasn’t the reason that they could, but there is no denying that playing both Alvarez and Foden through the middle to be closer to Haaland has seen City lose some control in matches.
That is exacerbated when Rodri isn’t available, as he won’t be at the Etihad. There is nobody who can orchestrate and conduct from the base of midfield like Rodri, and the best solution is probably to basically double up in that area of the pitch.
City likely can’t expect as much possession or control against Arsenal, but because of that it is almost more important to have as much as you possibly can. That leaves Guardiola with a dilemma that probably means one excellent player in form cannot be squeezed into his team
