Pep Guardiola has told Aymeric Laporte that it is down to him to prove he can dislodge Manchester City’s formidable new centre-half pairing of Ruben Dias and John Stones.
Laporte returned to training from a hamstring injury this week and hopes to make his comeback in Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Cheltenham Town, even if the visit of Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday night will come too soon for the Frenchman. Yet Laporte faces a longer battle to force his way back into City’s first team after losing his place to Dias and Stones, who have conceded just one goal in the 10 games they have started together this term and formed the bedrock behind the side’s resurgence.
Laporte’s season has been disrupted by a positive coronavirus test and injury problems but he has also become accustomed to being an unused substitute and has not featured in the league since enduring a difficult afternoon during the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on Nov 21, which was the last time Guardiola’s side were beaten.
From being City’s go-to defender and one of the first names on the teamsheet, Laporte finds himself on the outside looking in and Guardiola has challenged the £57 million signing to show he deserves his place back. “It depends on him,” the City manager said. “He has to be focused to come back in the best condition possible and he will get his minutes. After, it depends on performance. It depends on the form of everyone.
“His quality is there – be in top form and have his mind open. He’s the best left-sided defender. He has special quality with the ball. We need him [but] we need Nathan Ake and Eric García [as well].”
Dias has been a revelation since his club-record £65 million move from Benfica in the summer and Stones – who scored twice in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Crystal Palace – is playing the best football of his career and is on the verge of an England recall.
Villa have been one of the surprise packages but face a City side who have conceded just twice in their past nine league outings.
“Ruben’s impact has been massive,” Guardiola said. “Not just with John, it was when he played alongside Ayme, Eric or Nathan.
“He is a guy with ability to live every single action during 95 minutes, always concentrated in what has to do and help his team-mates, the holding midfielders, the full backs. He is always concentrating and that is not easy to find in a 23-year-old.
“It’s really good, we cannot win titles if you are not solid – with scoring goals we were struggling. Except the game against Leicester, we’ve been solid, we didn’t make mistakes like we did. You need to be good in the set pieces, many aspects, private life, the physical form, many things help to be champions.”
City remain without Sergio Agüero, who is self-isolating, as they attempt to go top, if only for a few hours before Manchester United face Fulham, and Guardiola has been pleased by the squad’s reaction to the striker’s continued absence.
“We could have complained but we did the opposite, we want him back but we have to move forward, find alternatives, use the quality we have and move forward,” Guardiola said. “The best striker in our history, he can create and win games by himself.”