Man City: Pundit shuts down Pep Guardiola’s latest complaint

Manchester City are not ‘struggling’ on the defensive injury front despite Pep Guardiola’s recent comments stating otherwise, according to Sky Sports pundit Kevin Campbell.

The Lowdown: Injury latest

The Premier League giants currently have Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips all out of action due to respective problems, whilst Aymeric Laporte has only just returned from the sidelines.

The Sky Blues boss claimed earlier this week that his side’s available defenders ‘cannot handle’ the fixture workload without their absent teammates, which hasn’t gone down well with one pundit in particular.

The Latest: Campbell’s criticism

Asked by Football Insider whether Man City’s injury list would prove a problem for Guardiola moving forward, Campbell said:

“Listen, they have got lots of versatile players.

“I am not having this. Let’s not pretend like they are struggling.

“If Man City are struggling, what are some of the other clubs. They are not struggling. Injuries happen at every club.

“They have such a big, flexible squad. Everyone was concerned when Rodri and Phillips were injured but [Ilkay] Gundogan went in there and bossed it.

“The richer get richer but claim to be poor. That is Guardiola in a nutshell. He is a smart man but I see through it.

“City have a world-class squad and a world-class academy. Get one of the youngsters in there if you need to. Do not worry about it.”

The Verdict: No need to panic

Man City won’t find it easy having so many defensive players out, but there is definitely no need to feel any concern.

The Etihad outfit are the only team to remain unbeaten in the top flight so far this season, and are just one point off the top having won seven and drawn two of their opening nine games.

Guardiola’s stand-ins are clearly doing a good enough job to maintain their impressive record, and with Erling Haaland up top, they won’t be short of goals at the other end either.