4 Manchester City Players with Points to Prove in Pre-Season

The summer offers every football club the chance to take stock, rest and recuperate ahead of the new campaign and refresh their squad with new signings. After a long, arduous season, players, managers and coaching staff need time to revitalise their minds and refocus.

For Manchester City, this summer feels far more significant. It isn’t just an opportunity to recalibrate and assemble a better squad, it feels like a new era at the club, with a new manager, backroom team, players and badge all marking the next chapter in the Sheikh Mansour era.

And it isn’t just any new manager. It’s Pep Guardiola, the world’s most sought-after coach, the man with 20 major titles to his name in just seven seasons as a manager. He boasts an incredible record and has a commitment to playing open, attacking football. Tactically, there are few, if any, who can match him for innovation and free-thinking.

Every single player on City’s books has something to prove. Almost every player in world football wants to work under Guardiola, to see up close the intensity he works with and learn from his unique style of management. Those already at City will be excited about the prospect of working with him, even if training sessions are set to get altogether more concentrated and demanding.

Hard work will be key to ensuring Guardiola wants you to stay and be part of the new chapter. There’s pressure across the squad to impress the Catalan.

However, some have perhaps more impressing to do than others. It was announced in early February that Guardiola would be taking charge, and it’s likely he has known for some time more. Given his appetite for work and understanding football in more detail, he is likely to have watched City intensely during his final months as Bayern Munich boss. He is unlikely to have been impressed with everything he saw.

Some players were treading water last season, while others looked completely out of their depth, unable to cope with the demands of playing in a side where the pressure to deliver silverware rarely fades. It is perhaps those players who have the most to prove to a manager who will not accept anything less than hard work, tactical intelligence and technical quality.

Here, we look at four players who are under the most pressure to make an immediate impression in pre-season in order to show Guardiola they are capable of helping take the team to new heights.

1. Wilfried Bony

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The 2015/16 season was something of a disaster for Wilfried Bony, and few can see a way for him to prove himself capable of continuing at City.

He failed to score a goal after the turn of the year, and he scored just 10 in total.

More than that, though, was his incompatibility with City’s style, something that will only be accentuated when Guardiola’s ideas begin to take hold.

City look to play a quick passing game. Movement and speed across the ground is key. Bony’s lack of mobility hampered him last season, and there were plenty of games where he was a passenger and almost a hindrance to the side.

That’s not to say City don’t need a striker who offers them a different, more physical presence. Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich is proof that a tall, powerful striker can flourish in a pass-and-move, high-intensity system, but Bony lacks the aerial capability and technical brilliance of the Pole.

His move from Swansea 18 months ago simply hasn’t worked out. For him to survive and play a part in the Guardiola era, he will have to have a huge impact in pre-season.

2. Joe Hart

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It seems remarkable, really, that Joe Hart has much to prove. He was one of City’s most consistent performers last season and has improved hugely since his form faltered so badly back in 2013.

However, Guardiola could feel a new goalkeeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet is what City need. He’s always preferred “sweeper-keeper” types who can act as auxiliary defenders and start attacks with effective distribution.

The biggest hole in Hart’s game remains his ability to distribute the ball.

Hart will need to show a willingness to adapt to Guardiola’s style and be prepared to accept new innovations into his game. His form for England at this summer’s Euros was also a concern, and he needs to refocus and show Guardiola he is capable.

3. Aleksandar Kolarov

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Aleksandar Kolarov struggled for form last season and ultimately lost his place to Gael Clichy.

Clichy, who has home-grown status, is more mobile and a more intelligent footballer. City need an upgrade on the Frenchman, but his superiority over Kolarov is fair and justified.

Kolarov, 30, looked laboured and somewhat lost last season. He’s never been the quickest, but he was sluggish at times, unable to inject any quality going forward, which his usually his forte.

Defensively, he continues to be a liability, and with Guardiola’s desire to see his full-backs impact the game in both halves of the pitch, Kolarov’s time could be coming to an end.

If he wants to remain part of the club, he will need to quickly show Guardiola last season was an aberration that can be forgotten.

Nicolas Otamendi

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In truth, either of City’s main centre-backs from last season could be on this list. Eliaquim Mangala continues to flatter to deceive. His form is erratic, but given he is just 25, relatively young for a centre-back, as well as quick, strong and athletic, some feel he needs more time to show what he can do. Most of his problems are tactical, which is where Guardiola improves players the most.

Nicolas Otamendi, 28, is a different problem. His recklessness and tendency to go to ground are problems that appear ingrained into his play.

He is a player Guardiola will want to get hold of and improve. He has many qualities, but he needs to show he can curb his excesses.