Sergio Aguero Cutting a Frustrated Figure in Strange Manchester City Season

It’s been a strange season for Sergio Aguero so far. Taking a look at his performances in 2016-17 solely on a statistical level, there doesn’t seem to be much different than in previous years—he’s still got a great goals-to-games ratio, and he’s running further on average per match under new boss Pep Guardiola than his previous manager, Manuel Pellegrini, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.

Delving a little deeper, though, it’s difficult for Manchester City supporters not to feel like there is something not quite right with the Argentinian at the moment. Despite a tally so far this campaign of 16 goals in 19 matches, the striker has gone for long spells without finding the net.

JUSTIN TALLIS/Getty Images

He went dry for over a month in the autumn—following his second goal in a 3-1 win at Swansea City at the end of September, he didn’t beat a goalkeeper again until he opened the scoring at West Bromwich Albion, a game his side won 4-0 at the end of October.

Throughout that time, there were matches where he didn’t get a sniff of the ball. There were fixtures where he just couldn’t find his shooting boots, including missing a penalty against Everton. The biggest pill for him to swallow, though, came in an eventual 4-0 defeat at Barcelona, when he was dropped—with the manager later confirming it was down to tactical reasons.

“He didn’t warm up, but it was OK,” the City manager said, as per the Manchester Evening News (via the Daily Mirror): “I wanted one more midfield player in that position and that was the reason why [he didn’t play]. I spoke with him, and he was good.”

It was foreign to the striker. Even when the club had four centre-forwards on their books and plenty of competition for Aguero, he was still the first name on the teamsheet when he was fit and available. It was always a question of which of the likes Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko or Alvaro Negredo would partner him. 

So to be benched for a key fixture when there are only two recognised forwards at the club—and the other is a youngster, as Kelechi Iheanacho is still developing as a player—shows the boss isn’t afraid to take big decisions if he isn’t getting what he wants. Guardiola would prefer no striker at all than one who doesn't fit his system.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

Equally, Guardiola may have been unhappy with the forward at that time, since Aguero had continued to represent his country despite not feeling 100 per cent following a muscle injury—it could have been a message not to risk injuring himself further.

It also came at the same time the manager was encouraging the forward to study one of his peers to see how to improve. The Catalan never confirmed which player Aguero was being asked to be more like, but he later suggested it wasn’t Barcelona’s Luis Suarez, as many had speculated.

The Manchester Evening News reported Guardiola just wanted the best for his star striker and that there was no ulterior motive: “I want to help Aguero to achieve his huge qualities as much as possible. That's what it is. He has some qualities and I cannot ask Sergio to do what Luis Suarez does because it would be unfair. I know the qualities the player has to develop, mostly his mentality. That is what I want.”

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Despite all of this pushing from the bench, though, Aguero is still cutting a frustrated figure. He’s serving his second suspension of the season for a reckless act on the pitch, and it’s an area of his game that’s never before been highlighted.

Aguero is the stereotype of an honest striker. In an era when players are building reputations for diving, the Argentinian is doing the exact opposite and is often commended for staying on his feet when he could hit the deck in an attempt to win a penalty from a little nudge or bump in the box.

Apart from a nasty challenge on Chelsea’s David Luiz in the 2013 FA Cup semi-final, there’s little in the striker’s five-and-a-half-season history at City to suggest he’s the sort of player who will leave his studs in when making a tackle or get a little naughty with his elbows.

JON SUPER/Getty Images

Yet by the time he returns for City—for their trip to Anfield on New Year’s Eve—he’ll have missed seven matches through suspension during Guardiola's reign. He was handed a three-match ban for swinging an elbow at West Ham United’s Winston Reid in his side’s 3-1 win in August, an afternoon where things didn’t go his way, as he was marked out of the game and he let his frustrations boil over.

That was the same formula for the 3-1 loss to Chelsea, which saw Aguero put in a frankly ridiculous knee-high challenge on Luiz in second-half stoppage time. Of course, it should never have got that far—had referee Anthony Taylor not made several errors in the game and had City’s offensive players finished off any of a number of gilt-edged chances, there would have been no anger boiling over inside the Argentinian.

But there was—and he let it get the better of him for the second time in months, instead of accepting the defeat and trying to put it right the following week.

In isolation, those incidents could be put down as out-of-the-ordinary, freak occurrences. However, combined with Aguero’s body language for large spells of the season—mainly when he’s not been scoring—it begins to add up to a striker who is feeling the pressure, perhaps even struggling to deal with it.

Perhaps being City's sole experienced striker is weighing heavily on his mind. Whatever it is, it's been affecting his game in not inconsiderable patches this season.

Five goals in his last 13 appearances is an usually low return for someone of his quality, and there have been matches in that run where fans just haven’t backed him to score. He’s found himself unable to get into shooting positions, and the lack of chances being created by his team-mates must be equally frustrating.

Only in the recent away victories at West Brom and Burnley, and the success over Barcelona in November, has Aguero looked back to his usual, confident self. Those displays came in a barren wasteland of head-down performances, where his face wore a pained expression—the 1-1 draws with Southampton and Borussia Monchengladbach, or the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace, for instance.

It’s a stark contrast to the forward who had found the net 11 times in his opening six matches. That Aguero had confidence flowing through him, and even two missed penalties in the same match against Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League playoff round didn’t stop him from securing a hat-trick in that 5-0 victory.

That’s the Aguero City need back—and it’s little coincidence that the team’s downturn in form has been at the same time as their main striker’s dry spell. When he returns against Liverpool at the end of December, the Argentinian needs to be brimming with confidence and belief in both himself and his team-mates, something that's been absent for far too long this campaign.

After a troubled few months, he could be like a brand-new signing and a return to form could jump-start City for the new year. It’s now down to the manager to rid him of his frustrations and get him back to his best.