Form Guide: Fully fit Gundogan can inspire City to title success
Regardless of their abundance of riches and seemingly bottomless pockets, Manchester City’s decision to spend upwards of £20m on Ilkay Gundogan certainly raised eyebrows. The talent is obvious, but he joined during his recovery from a dislocated kneecap. Given his injury history, most notably a spell on the sidelines for over a year due to a back problem, the signing of the midfielder represented a risk. It's proving a calculated one, with any doubts over whether Gundogan could fulfill his duties for the club rapidly dissipating.
On the back of his return to fitness, the 26-year-old has excelled for City, most recently playing a starring role in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Barcelona on Tuesday. Two goals contributed to Gundogan’s WhoScored man of the match award with a rating of 8.82, but his ability to contribute with goals is just one part of an impressive all round game, even if he has four in his last two matches. His performance in midweek was his second best rated in his City career following on from the 9.69 attained in the win over West Brom.
Against Barcelona, his pass success rate (96.4%) was the best of all starters, which is some feat against the likes of Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic. However, it wasn’t just Gundogan’s distribution that stood out at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, making three tackles and three interceptions. When he wasn’t in possession, he was hassling Barcelona in a bid to disrupt their rhythm, which was vital given City had just 34.6% possession, the lowest a Pep Guardiola side has ever had in all competitions.
Yet, despite their dominance of the ball, the blaugrana created just five chances in the match, their second lowest return in a Champions League match since the start of the 2012/13 season. The inability to score more than once highlights just how ineffective Barcelona were at pushing forward and while they were robbed of a number of key players through injury, the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez failed to haul the Spanish champions to victory.
With Gundogan now back fit and firing on all cylinders, Guardiola has the energetic midfielder required to link defence and attack and drive the team forward in games such as Tuesday's. An average of 2.3 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game both rank fifth of all City players in the Champions League this season, while he ranks third for key passes (2.3) and dribbles per game (2) at the club in the same competition. He’s the all-action middle man required to ensure City remain dominant in the midfield, both defensively and offensively. Indeed, it’s no small shock that he is City’s highest rated player in Europe’s elite competition this season, with a rating of 7.55. Not bad for a player who put pen to paper while still on crutches.
With Yaya Toure’s performances waning, the powerhouse Ivorian’s impact dipping with age, Gundogan has taken over his mantle with aplomb and comfortably made it his own. An average of 1.2 dribbles per league game is among the best for City, with the Germany international willing to drive the ball forward from deep. However, he is a far more rounded player than perhaps some give him credit for. He clearly boasts the eye for a defence splitting pass, which eases the burden on David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne.
While Gundogan’s inclusion forces De Bruyne out wide, this allows for City to remain on top without the risk of being caught out with the former willingly working as tirelessly off the ball as he does when in possession. “We need him. Without him we cannot achieve our target, it is impossible,” Guardiola enthused following Gundogan’s man of the match outing in the week. High praise indeed. Worryingly for City’s rivals, though, is that Guardiola insists there is more to come from Gundogan, despite a number of fine showings since his recovery.
Operating as the midfield general, the player’s ball retention qualities mean he also thrives as the man needed to keep City ticking over in the middle of the park. Guardiola’s side are averaging more possession (60.7%) than any other Premier League team this season, while Gundogan boasts the best pass success rate (92.8%) in England’s top tier this term. If City’s win over Barcelona, where they sat off before hitting the Spanish side on the counter attack, and their dominance of the ball in the Premier League has taught us anything, it’s how versatile a midfielder he really is, be it in helping to soak up pressure or to help overawe opponents.
While much of the focus has been on the performances of De Bruyne, Silva and Sterling, to name three, Gundogan has come in and rapidly established himself as a key man for City, which was expected given his talent. If Guardiola is to enjoy success in his debut campaign at the Etihad Stadium, then the former Borussia Dortmund man is central to the team’s efforts, as he so excellently proved on Tuesday night.
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