Manchester City have been in a sticky spot since a potentially season-ending injury happened to Rodri last September.
Their latest setback came in the match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium which saw them lose the match 1-5.
The Cityzens are still in fourth place in the Premier League table but have a potentially tough month ahead.
It is fairly obvious at the moment that City need to rebuild their all-conquering side that has won one UEFA Champions League and six Premier League titles in the last seven seasons.
However, as Pep Guardiola, their 54-year-old Spanish manager, might find out, the task will not be easy.
Manchester City Squad Needs Serious Enhancement
The English champions have already loaned Kyle Walker to AC Milan.
Their two other players on the wrong side of 30, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gündoğan, are probably spending their last season at the club. Bernardo Silva is also on the wrong side of 30 now but might go on to play for a couple of more seasons at the club.
There is also the glaring inability to replace Rodri in the playing XI, which has harmed the team to no end.
Mateo Kovačić has done his bit as a No. 6, but there is no denying the fact that he is not a holding midfielder primarily.
The plan to make a hybrid full-back deputize as an additional defensive midfielder has not worked this season either, as the likes of Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes have demonstrated.
That means that Manchester City will have to sign at least another defensive midfielder, as it will be required even when Rodri makes a return from the injury.
They have just completed the signing of Nico Gonzalez from FC Porto in a deadline-day deal to take a step in that direction.
At least two central midfielders will be needed to fill in for the void likely to be created by De Bruyne and Gündoğan’s potential departure.
Omar Marmoush has come into the club recently, but the jury is still out on him.
Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden, along with Rodri, should be the players who should form the fulcrum of the team in the next few years.
An Uphill Battle for Guardiola
Managing a club at the top level takes its toll on a person both physically and mentally.
Guardiola has been doing it for almost 17 years now, which means that he might not enjoy investing himself fully once again in developing another team.
This is despite the fact that he has recently signed a new contract as the Manchester City manager.
Two great managers of modern times, Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti, have done really well even after attaining the age of 60.
However, both of them probably got involved in the tactics of their teams to a lesser extent than Guardiola usually does.
The likes of Jose Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp either found the going to be difficult or could not take the stress anymore at around the age of 55.
Hence, building another team from scratch is going to be a strenuous job for the great Spaniard.
As he has had a few personal issues as well, it might involve a lot of effort on his part to get the job done.
Looking at Guardiola’s wonderful track record as a manager, one can never rule out the possibility of him turning things around.
However, it will be no easy task.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / News Images
Recording Date: 29.01.2025