Aymeric Laporte’s Next Six Weeks at Manchester City After Pep Guardiola’s Admission
Laporte’s exclusion from the Manchester City lineup against Arsenal was difficult, according to Guardiola, but it said a lot about his place in the team.
Pep Guardiola explained why he started Manuel Akanji at left-back for Manchester City in the biggest game of the season, saying, “I had a lot of doubts because that position is for Aymer.”
Aymeric Laporte was positioned on his preferred side of the field despite City having a left-back conundrum against Arsenal due to the injuries to Nathan Ake and Joao Cancelo.
Although he was available for 22 games, Laporte was benched for the 13th time this season. Three of the nine games he’s started took place in cup competitions, while four of the nine came just before bigger matches he sat out. Laporte feels definitely out of favor this year after playing such an important defensive role for the previous two seasons.
His more extensive season-long statistics indicate that the issue predates 2023. He missed 15 games due to injury, however he did not play in as many games (16) as he did start. Laporte has made just 19 appearances for City this season, and 57% of those appearances have been in cup competitions. He has played the fewest minutes of any other center-back option by a significant margin. Laporte is the only defender who has played less than Rico Lewis and Sergio Gomez.
Guardiola continued on Wednesday, explaining how Akanji’s abilities in one-on-one matches led to him being selected against Arsenal out of position. “He is our best player in the build-up by far, he has an incredible ability to read,” Guardiola said. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli remained anonymous, and City’s agile backline was unlucky not to keep a clean sheet. It was a strategy that worked perfectly.
Guardiola might be persuaded to start Akanji at left-back in the future against more aggressive wingers as long as Ake is sidelined. Would Laporte feel confident playing against Real Madrid with Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo on the wings even if he receives the start against Fulham this weekend or West Ham the next week?
The only realistic position for Laporte to start in those crucial games is full-back because John Stones, Ruben Dias, and Akanji are all in excellent form. Ake has been more reliable at left-back than Laporte when he returns.
Laporte’s ability to ignite City’s offense by cutting the lines from the back will always be praised by Guardiola. But when it comes to defense, Stones and Dias stand out as City’s best centerback pairing, especially. Additionally, Akanji has proven trustworthy alongside Dias if Stones is used on the right.
Laporte has previously stated that he would think about his future if he wasn’t getting enough playing time. In 2021, when he was granted a rare start at Burnley, he made headlines by declaring: “At the moment I’m here, I’ll play today, we’ll see what happens.” I’m content at Manchester City and always imagined staying for a long time. That, I hope, will occur.
Earlier this month, he posted a cryptic message to his Instagram, which read: “After the rain, a rainbow; after a storm, the calm; and after an end, a new beginning.”
Laporte will undoubtedly get the opportunity to convince Guardiola that he deserves to start the important, season-defining games that are still left with 10 games remaining in the regular season (or 11 if City advances to the Champions League final). Laporte might be used in between the biggest games as players are rested and rotated for the finish of the Premier League season, the Champions League semifinals, and the FA Cup final.
He will be trying to stake his claim once he does receive the call, whether it be at left-back or in the center. If not, City might need to decide whether to maintain or trade a different disgruntled player.
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