Any Manchester City fans made nervous by Pep Guardiola’s decision not to start Sergio Aguero in games against Everton and Barcelona won’t have been relaxed too much by the Argentine’s performance in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton. Back in the starting lineup, the forward had a frustrating afternoon and was rarely able to influence play—though he’s not alone in that respect, as plenty of his teammates also struggled.
The manager explained in his pre-match press conference that beginning the Champions League game without Aguero was a “tactical decision” and that “Sergio’s [future is] at Manchester City," per Jonathan Smith of ESPN FC.
Speaking about whether he’d be willing to sell the Argentine, he said: “I am sorry, when Sergio decides to leave Manchester City, it will be his decision. I appreciate him like a football player and appreciate like a man what he did here.
“The next time before you give your opinion and you decide he is not in my plans you can call me before you write if he is in my plans or not in my plans.”
With a record of 11 goals in 11 games so far this season, Aguero isn’t to be taken lightly and it would be a remarkably bold decision for Guardiola to begin phasing him out, especially at this stage in the campaign.
With the transfer window closed, only Gabriel Jesus is so far arriving in January as a further striking reinforcement, but as good as he’s been for both Brazil and Palmeiras, it’d still be a huge gamble to bank on the 19-year-old to turn on the style in the Premier League.
Nevertheless, something isn’t quite right at the moment. Aguero had 11 goals after six games, meaning he’s not found the net in his last five, and his performances since scoring twice at Swansea in September have been somewhat stunted.
He barely had a kick against Tottenham, struggled from the bench against Everton and Barcelona—missing a penalty in the Premier League fixture, his third failure from the spot for City this season—and he was very quiet when Southampton came to the Etihad on Sunday.
The Argentine came back from international duty carrying a slight abdominal injury and he probably didn’t earn much favour with his manager by playing for his national team while not fully fit.
The Mirror's David McDonnell reported that Aguero was injured while playing domestically, but that he joined up with Argentina nonetheless: “This injury hit me while I was at City in the match against Celtic in the Champions League.
“It was hard, it rained a lot, the grass was long and muddy and then it hit me. I recovered pretty well in two days and after that I played against Tottenham and then travelled to join the national team.”
He added: “Sometimes you think ‘Why don’t I stop?’, because after that I’ll be out for a month-and-a-half and I lose six or seven matches at City.
“But when you're called-up to the national team, you always want to play. It’s the way it is.”
How much influence that had on Aguero’s omission from the starting lineup in two successive matches is unclear, though with the manager confirming the decision was tactical, it does rule out injury.
Guardiola certainly isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers and move on established stars, either. If he feels like they don’t have a place in his side, then their number is up. Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Yaya Toure were all removed from his Barcelona team, while Bastian Schweinsteiger was phased out at Bayern Munich.
No other manager could have got away with replacing Joe Hart at City, after the England goalkeeper and fans’ favourite had been a permanent fixture for six years.
It goes to show that no player—no matter what they’ve achieved in the past, their status at the club or their popularity with supporters—is untouchable and guaranteed a place in Guardiola’s team.
And while the manager insists there is no problem between himself and Aguero, his comments are eerily similar to those before the departures of Hart, Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala.
Of course, it’s a little different with Aguero since his only replacement, aside from the manager choosing to go without a recognised centre-forward, is youngster Kelechi Iheanacho. The Nigerian, while impressive so far, is yet to establish himself as a first-team regular.
On top of that, the Argentine surely fits Guardiola’s system well.
City were interested in signing Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the summer. The forward recently confirmed with the magazine Onze Mondial (h/t James Walker-Roberts of Sky Sports) that contact had been made and his father had held talks with the club, but no deal was agreed.
It feels like Guardiola is currently light of striking options with only youngster Iheanacho behind Aguero and with Jesus yet to join the ranks, so it’s more likely the Gabon international would have been an additional reinforcement rather than a replacement.
However, there seem to be concerns in the manager’s mind as to whether Aguero is capable of being the striker he wants him to be.
In September, James Robson of the Manchester Evening News reported that Guardiola was attempting to challenge the Argentine more.
“There is no doubt about Sergio’s quality - but I think he also needs someone beside him to push him, so that he knows he always has to play well,” the Catalan said. “All the players have to feel in every game that they have to play well. If not, maybe you are not going to play in the next one.”
Then, before City’s draw with Everton, the newspaper asked him who Aguero should try to emulate. He wouldn’t say the name publicly, but answered only: “Sergio knows that.”
With 107 goals in 157 Premier League games, it’s little secret that Aguero is one of the deadliest finishers in the division. He comes alive in and around the box and can often go through 90 minutes doing very little but still find himself on the scoresheet a number of times.
However, Guardiola is focused on what players can do to make the team greater than the sum of its parts. Straight from the Johan Cruyff school of football, he’s a firm believer that everybody can improve further. Despite Aguero having such remarkable goalscoring figures, the manager can see that perhaps the Argentine could contribute more to creating chances.
Guardiola wants to see him more involved in the build-up, creating space in deeper positions and influencing the play further back, but without losing that lethal side to his game in the final third.
While the speculation over Aguero’s future will likely continue for some time, it’s doubtful that the striker will go the same way as the likes of Hart or Nasri.
What’s more probable, especially given the timing of his benching, is that the manager is again stamping his authority over his squad. No player is an automatic starter and Guardiola isn’t afraid to make the difficult decisions in order to get the best from his team.
The Catalan is ruthless. Nobody should forget that. And nobody should get too comfortable, either—because he knows better than anyone that change is the enemy of complacency.
This episode is more about the bigger picture. It might be tough for Aguero at the moment, but he’ll come back from this as a much better forward.