There has come a time in each of the last few seasons when Pep Guardiola has uttered the words “we are in trouble” to describe an injury crisis in his team. Manchester City team.

This time it came earlier than ever, and although it’s something City have been able to live with in the past, they won the Premier League title for four years in a row, after all – Guardiola says their current problems are the worst they’ve had.

“We have 13 players so we are in real difficulty, we had to try harder last week,” he told reporters after City’s victory. eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Tottenham Hotspur Wednesday. “I think when we are in trouble, like we are now – we have never been in this situation in nine years, many injuries for many reasons – the players take a step forward and they are more together than ever.”

Guardiola insists on having a small senior squad so as not to have too many players stuck on the bench, which could disrupt them (and their agents) and destabilize the dressing room. a handful of injuries, his options may start to look extremely scarce.

(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

This means that, with everyone fit, City have the strongest squad in the country in terms of quality, but this is often confused with having a large number of players, which is not the case and this became evident mid-last week, when City registered seven substitutes (the rules allow clubs to register 12) for the Champions League match against Sparta Prague. Two of the seven were goalkeepers, two others were central defenders and two others were academy graduates.

With Rodri out for the rest of the season, Kevin De Bruyne in the midst of what could be a two-month layoff and Kyle Walker injured his knee during an international match a few weeks ago, things got really tense when, after the match against Wolves October 20 Jack Grealish And Jeremy Doku also detected problems.

At this time, the people who do not appear to have been injured are: Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Nathan Aké, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, James McAtee, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva And Erling Haalandthe 13th player mentioned by Guardiola being either the third choice goalkeeper Scott Carson or, more likely, Manuel Akanjiif the hit he took before the Spurs game is as minor as the coach says.

This has led to a move down the left wing for Nunes, who has impressed of late, and which could offer him a chance to reignite his City career after a quiet debut 2023-24 season. This is what Guardiola means when he says his in-form players go the extra mile during these difficult times.

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Guardiola had accepted the idea of ​​City withdrawing from the Carabao Cup – with injuries starting to take their toll, he prioritized Premier League matches against Bournemouth And Brighton the next two weekends, either side of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon – so the result against Spurs in itself is not a blow.

But the trip to north London only made things worse on the injury front; Akanji suffered this seemingly minor injury while warming up, Rubén Dias “felt something”, necessitating his withdrawal at half-time, Savinho suffered what looked like a very painful blow to his foot or ankle – “It wasn’t the bone, hopefully,” Guardiola said – and Josko Gvardiol he grabbed the groin late.

“I couldn’t talk to him because the massage room was too busy, too crowded,” Guardiola told reporters of the Croatian’s scare, displaying a bit of dark humor regarding the large number of players needing treatment. ‘a post-match treatment. Guardiola had spoken to Gvardiol personally during the match to ask if he was okay, with another injury to his squad being the last thing he needed.

The current situation helps to explain why, when he was about to be eliminated from the competition with 16 minutes to go, Guardiola called on an 18-year-old player. Jahmai Simpson-Puseya centre-back, for his senior debut rather than introducing Golden Boot-winning striker Erling Haaland, which would have boosted their hopes of an equalizer exponentially, given the relative lack of goal threat City had on the ground at the time.

But it would also have increased the chances of Haaland himself getting injured, Guardiola said.

“The plan was always for him not to play,” he told reporters. “The match against Southampton (Saturday) was really demanding and I didn’t want to take any risks with him in this competition.

It becomes more difficult when Haaland is deemed necessary, which could be the case for every game now until the end of the game. FA Cup third round in January, with the exception of the Champions League home match against Feyenoord on 26 November. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room in the team currently, and so those who are available will be asked to do more.

Guardiola was actually asked if Lewis, who has been a teenager for another three weeks, had played too much, either in defense or in midfield. To which he replied: “I have no alternative. Our captain (Rodri) is injured. I have no alternative.

Rodri’s knee injury is a big blow for City (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Walker, Grealish and De Bruyne are currently expected back after the international break following the November 9 trip to Brighton, although the way Guardiola has recently spoken about the latter suggests it could be a difficult season for the Belgian.

He was asked last night if the Swedish Spurs winger Dejan Kulusevski De Bruyne reminds him, he took the opportunity to compliment his player. “No. There’s no one like Kevin,” he said. “At his peak, the amount of stuff Kevin produced in a game, no one could do it.”

The problem is that Guardiola, at least from his public comments, seems to believe those privileged days are in the past.

“We have to (be careful). Sometimes the body says: ‘Be careful, I’m here,’ because they are humans, a lot of games, a lot of years, many years, long years, and the consequences are there,” he said. said at a press conference in early October about 33-year-old De Bruyne’s injury, which was not expected to be serious.

“A car, when it has to have something replaced, is not the same car. There’s something a little worse. It’s not the same when you buy a new car. It’s normal. This is part of the decisions you have to make when you think about the selections, the future of the team and the group. It’s not a question of talent. There are players who are older and it happens, it’s normal.

De Bruyne will no doubt have a contribution to make at some point and the good news for City is that Guardiola appears genuinely happy with the team’s performances, despite injuries and even though he admits his annoyance at the effort levels of his players during the 3-2 victory. against Fulham on October 5.

De Bruyne has not played for City since September (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

“It’s really good,” he said again Wednesday evening, echoing the message of previous weeks. “It gets more and more difficult game after game, but the guys who are here make an effort to be with us, fight to be with us, play with pain and concentration and live 24 hours for us. These guys, I won’t forget it.

As Guardiola considers his own future, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, this sort of thing could be crucial to him staying.

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And it will be more immediately important on the ground.

City have drawn consecutive Premier League matches with Arsenal And Newcastle in late September but, thanks to some combative performances, they have since responded with three consecutive league victories. These two trips to the south coast before the international break may not play out in the same way but, even if they do, City went four matches without a win in November and December last year, but managed to rally and take the title in the second. half the season.

But they are I’m dealing with injuries at the moment and things could get worse before they get better.

This time they could really be in trouble.

(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)