Manchester City’s famous five were all afforded holidays at the start of this week and there must have been some discussion about making that number half a dozen instead.
The quintet were all on the touchline during the warm-ups before City progressed through to the quarter-finals of another Carabao Cup defence on Wednesday night. With Erling Haaland’s oversized wool coat and Ruben Dias in leathers with a cap on backwards, it could’ve been mistaken for fashion week.
Enzo Maresca’s decision to grant three days off after defeat by Aston Villa was made with mental and physical fatigue in mind. The five, also including Gianluigi Donnarumma, Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol, had all played over 850 minutes each so far this season.
But so too had Marc Guehi. And yet as those not required took their seats behind the dugout, he was straightening the captain’s armband and cajoling a group who traded blows with Brighton and then squeezed through on penalties.
Another full match to his name, the centre-half jogging 30 yards from the centre circle to console Mateo Kovacic after the Croatian’s miss in the shootout.
‘After two complicated games, I think he was very good,’ Maresca said of the only member of his leadership group called to participate in midweek.
While the rest of the Manchester City leadership group sat out Wednesday night’s victory over Brighton in the Carabao Cup, Marc Guehi was captain and played the full 90 minutes
Rayan Cherki, Guehi and Enzo Fernandez celebrate the penalty shootout win over Brighton
Guehi was at the World Cup longer than Haaland, Dias and Gvardiol. He also featured in 332 of the 360 minutes comprising England’s four-game international window last month and will surely earn a rest at some point soon. Not that he thinks he needs one.
Maresca clearly felt there were compelling reasons for keeping Guehi going. If it was a straight decision between him or Dias for Brighton – with one needing to shepherd the back line against dangerous opposition – then the Portuguese’s extra game-and-a-half worth of minutes probably contributed. Guehi is younger and can likely bounce back quicker.
And then there is the recent form, some high-profile slips, and the manager’s psychology around that. Guehi admitted fault for both Ipswich Town goals in a 3-2 victory – caught the wrong side on both occasions – and then miscontrolled a Dias pass in the opening moments at Villa, allowing Nicolas Jackson to open the scoring.
Maresca hooked a booked Guehi at half-time in the Midlands, something ex-City defender Joleon Lescott feared could ‘shatter’ the defender’s confidence when discussing it on television. These mistakes came after Lamine Yamal had picked his pocket in the Nations League defeat by Spain at Wembley last month.
City’s manager has been defiant about Guehi this week. Aside from the praise after Brighton, he has talked up the 26-year-old’s ability to compartmentalise and react to setbacks.
Guehi is good at holding his hands up to team-mates and taking ownership, not hiding in the dressing room. It was one of the reasons why Maresca – who felt he needed an Englishman among his captains – chose Guehi as a lieutenant for first-choice skipper Dias. ‘I love Marc to be honest,’ the City boss said, somebody he chose to feature in central midfield on the opening weekend of the season.
There is definitely a school of thought around City that Guehi is best playing his way back into proper form, that Brighton provided a decent opportunity for that. His overall performances this season have been an improvement on his first six months at the Etihad Stadium, an imperious display at Old Trafford when the team were a man light his finest to date.
That followed a similarly impressive night in Porto, while he was the only defender to come out with real credit from the manic 5-3 win over Sunderland. Those were before the independent commission’s findings of City’s guilt for systematic breaking of financial rules, with England manager Thomas Tuchel revealing that the City players in his squad were naturally worried about the immediate future.
Ruben Dias has a word with Guehi after the Englishman’s mistake led to Aston Villa taking the lead at Villa Park last weekend
Guehi had his pocket picked by goalscorer Lamine Yamal in England’s loss to Spain in September
Concerns were allayed during meetings with chief executive Ferran Soriano and Maresca, with Guehi later stressing his ‘trust’ in the club’s insistence of their innocence.
This has been a whirlwind year, Guehi’s move to Liverpool collapsing last summer as he lay inside the MRI scanner during a medical and then City accelerating interest in January to give them a defensive boost amid an injury crisis.
Guehi has barely had time to stand still, wrapping his head around the unique demands of working with Pep Guardiola after being so settled at Crystal Palace and then meeting another new manager within months.
Maresca has brought a slightly new way of defending, a more aggressive press – with even Dias storming into midfield at Villa on Saturday – and that has left more gaps to contend with at the back. It’s high risk and the likes of Guehi have to remain hyper-vigilant. It will likely take time for them all to settle into this.
