Manchester City's Top 5 Players So Far This Season

A draw with Celtic and a defeat to a rampant Tottenham side have dented Manchester City’s impressive start to the season, but the last week should not cloud people’s judgment too much.

Manager Pep Guardiola has had a significant impact at City already, and they look like title contenders after a disastrous last campaign that saw them finish with just 66 points and only secure a Champions League spot on the final day of the season. In the space of three months, he’s done about as much as can realistically be expected.

City have been revitalised by a manager known for being able to coax more out of the players at his disposal than most of his rivals. City look tactically more flexible, while the players look re-energised, as if they’re enjoying playing again, and are working much harder with and without the ball.

There are still holes, most notably in the full-back positions, but too much change in one window would have been detrimental. City fans need to be realistic, and where the team is now compared to where it was in May should be enough to comfort them.

Here, we take a look at City’s five best players so far this season. Feel free to use the comments section below to suggest your own selections.

5. Sergio Aguero

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Aguero has 11 goals already this season.

"I want more," Guardiola said after the recent win over Swansea. "I’m so happy with Sergio—so, so happy—but I want more, I want more. He can do better. He can do better.”

To most of us, there’s little more Sergio Aguero could do. He’s scored 11 goals in eight games this season in all competitions, a fine record by anyone’s standards. He’s looked electric inside the area—leaner and sharper than ever before.

His goal in the 3-1 win over Swansea was a good example of his predatory instincts inside the box. Bacary Sagna squared a pass to him on the edge of the area—and one brilliant touch took two defenders out of the game before he powered the ball past Lukasz Fabianski. A split second was all it took to destroy the Welsh club's backline.

But Guardiola wants more work outside the area. “He knows we are here to help him to play the way to create as many chances as possible and more chances to score goals,” the Catalan said after the win at Stoke City that saw Aguero bag two.

“But he has to help us. It’s not enough to receive the ball from his team-mates. He has to help us in the first pressure and run a lot and help us a lot with movement.

“Until now he’s doing it, and when that happens you are involved in defensive tasks and the offensive. You cannot be brilliant when you disappear when you don’t have the ball. It’s impossible.

“Football is a connection between what you have with the ball and without the ball.”

Regardless of Guardiola’s demands for more, Aguero has been superb this season and remains the finest striker in the English top flight.

4. David Silva

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David Silva controls games.

There’s no doubt David Silva’s influence last season was less obvious than it has been at any stage of his City career.

Ankle pain restricted his movement, and by the end of the season, he could only play one game a week. Some were suggesting he would struggle under Guardiola, given his regression and advancing years.

What we’ve seen since Guardiola arrived has been the opposite. Silva has been freed by his new manager, playing centrally with licence to go wherever the ball is and influence the play.

He’s been back to his instrumental best, dictating the tempo of games and linking City’s play. He’s a joy to watch, and when he’s at the top of his game, the opposition struggle to lay a finger on him. It’s all done with breathless ease.

3. Fernandinho

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Fernandinho has been superb.

It’s clear Fernandinho is a Guardiola favourite. He’s the only player to start all seven Premier League matches. He’s nailed down the No. 6 role just in front of the back four. Guardiola feels he’s capable of playing “10 positions.”

And it’s clear to see why. Fernandinho brings drive and energy to the side, contributing to defence and attack. His incredible stamina is matched by his technical quality. There’s little he cannot do.

In terms of consistency, few in the Premier League can match him. It isn’t a new phenomenon, either. Aside from a blip immediately after the 2014 World Cup, he’s been a beacon of consistency since his arrival in 2013.

“What has happened until now would have been impossible without him,” Guardiola said of his impact. “If a team has three Fernandinhos, they would be champions. We have one, but he is fast, he is intelligent, he is strong in the air, he can play several positions. When he sees the space, he will run there immediately.

“When you need to make a correction, you just need one player to challenge, and he is there.”

2. Kevin De Bruyne

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De Bruyne in action against Swansea.

Two goals, seven assists and a series of measured displays in the No. 10 role have impressed everyone this season. Kevin De Bruyne is perhaps the best player in the Premier League at present—and one of the best in Europe.

Many sneered when City paid £55 million to sign him from Wolfsburg last summer having been unceremoniously let go by Chelsea for £18 million 18 months earlier. The Belgian is making a mockery of Jose Mourinho’s decision to sell him without giving him a proper first-team chance. He’s been sensational at City.

It’s perhaps his decision-making that makes him such a formidable player. Against Bournemouth recently, he had a hand in all four goals. He floated around the pitch, picking passes at the right moment and with the right weight. A dream to play alongside.

“I think he is a special player—an outstanding player," Guardiola said after the win over Bournemouth. "He makes everything. Without the ball he’s the first fighter, and with the ball it’s clear he sees absolutely everything. He decides what he has to do in the right moment every single time.

“Sometimes you have to pass with the first touch, sometimes you have to control. Sometimes you have to attack the ball. Every time he makes the right decision.

“I am lucky; we are happy. Hopefully he can enjoy with us to play his amazing football.”

Few could argue with Guardiola's assessment.

1. Raheem Sterling

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Sterling has improved dramatically.

In terms of improvement, no one in the City squad can match Raheem Sterling this season.

He’s gone from a shell of a player to a leading light in the Premier League. It’s been remarkable and much-deserved, given the treatment he’s received from the media and rival supporters over the past 12 months.

He’s managed five goals and three assists already. His pace and directness have caused teams all sorts of problems, and his ability to beat players has once again been on show.

In an interview with Oliver Holt in the Mail on Saturday, Sterling explained the difference between this season and last:

"

It was really difficult because I didn't feel I could play my natural game [last season].

Everyone was two-touch kings. The whole training session was based on two touches. I wasn't able to dribble. I like to dribble and I like to have fun and take players on. But you can't do that with two touches. Sometimes, the way it works is that what you do in training sessions is what you do in the game. You get in a habit.

Coming in this year, it's been different. I had five minutes with Pep and he showed me on the board where he wants me to be and what he wants me to do and he said the rest was down to me.

"

City are benefiting hugely from his dramatic upturn in form.

He’s pinned sides back, so fearful are they of his pace in behind. And not only has his football been effective, as his impressive statistics tell us, but he’s been thrilling to watch—the kind of player who entertains as well as wins matches. His Premier League Player of the Month award for September was a fitting tribute to his start to the campaign.

Whatever Guardiola has done to restore his confidence is incredible. Rarely has a player improved so dramatically in such a short space of time.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise indicated.