The competition for places at Manchester City this season looks set to be fierce. Their summer reshuffle has strengthened their hand. With a number of existing players now coming back into better form, every player has to be at his best to find himself in the starting lineup.
Raheem Sterling has brought pace and balance to City’s attack and is already a key player for Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Fabian Delph, just back from injury, adds energy to the club's midfield options, and with Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala improving vastly on last season, and Nicolas Otamendi having joined on Thursday from Valencia, City’s defence looks healthier than ever.
Left-back has remained untouched, though. Gael Clichy andAleksandar Kolarov will once again contest what has been something of a problem position for City in recent seasons. Both have deficiencies that, really, City need to address if they want to achieve their ambitions, but for now Pellegrini feels he has enough options with the current incumbents to improve City.
Clichy is yet to play this season because of injury, but throughout his time at the club, he has shown himself to be more the more well-rounded of the two players. He may not attack with as much precision as Kolarov, who scores more goals and assists with more regularity, but he has enough pace to cause right-backs concern and is much more solid defensively.
Consistency has been Clichy’s big problem, with last season the perfect example of his inability to maintain his best form over long periods. He started the season woefully, leaving Mangala, who was new to the league and struggling to adapt, horribly exposed at times. He was being beaten easily in one-on-one situations, failing to stop crosses into the box and looking short on confidence. His misplaced pass in the home defeat to CSKA Moscow in November was the nadir of his City career.
However, a sharp upswing in his performance level from that point onwards reminded the City fans of the qualities he offers. Clichy isn’t a great modern-day full-back—he’s too lightweight and not explosive enough going forward to be considered one of the best—but he is an excellent player when at his best.
He was, on balance, City’s first-choice left-back last season. Kolarov had a miserable campaign, with his defensive frailties exposed too often. Whereas in the past his attacking contribution masked his deficiencies at the back, he failed to play with the same dynamism going forward.
Kolarov has rarely filled observers with confidence since arriving at City in the summer of 2010. His positioning is poor, and he oftenovercommits going forward and doesn’t have the pace to get back into his defensive position. City can look exposed against the better sides when he is in the side.
Profligacy in possession has been another issue. Kolarov likes to take shots from all angles—understandable given the power and quality in his left foot—but too often his efforts are wayward and frustrating.
At his best, though, he is superb going forward, capable of delivering wicked balls into the box on which forwards can thrive. Very few Premier League defenders possess the same ability to fire a dangerous ball into the area.
And this season, with Clichy injured, Kolarov is thriving. He’s been superb in City’s three wins so far, with the space created by Sterling’s presence on the left benefiting the Serbian hugely.
The 29-year-old scored an ingenious goal from a tight angle at Evertonon Sunday and caused havoc down the left against West Brom andChelsea. He loves to go forward, and given City have totally dominated all three games so far, he’s had less to do in his own defensive third than perhaps he has in the past.
The problem City have is their dominance is unlikely to last all season. Sooner or later they will come up against a side that causes them problems. Anyone with a pacey right-winger can target Kolarov and expose his lack of pace and defensive appetite. It’s happened numerous times before.
In fact, it’s arguably Clichy’s pace that has seen him generally preferred to Kolarov during their time together at City. He’s seen as a safer pair of hands, particularly against better sides with speed on the flanks.
Their Premier League statistics for the 2014/15 season, supplied bySquawka, make for interesting reading. Clichy played 23 times, scoring once, and Kolarov made 21 appearances, scoring twice.
They both assisted three goals, but it was Clichy who supplied more key passes—23 to Kolarov’s 19. Given Kolarov is seen as a superior attacking threat, Clichy matched him pace for pace. Add in Clichy’s far better take on statistics—he managed to go past players 83 percent of the times he attempted to, which is far higher than Kolarov who was successful just 44 percent of the time—and it’s arguable he is better in possession.
It’s defensively where the differences become most apparent. Clichywon 53 percent of his tackles throughout the season, which contrasted sharply with Kolarov’s 40 percent. Clichy made an average of eight defensive contributions per game, whereas Kolarov made five. However, Kolarov is superior in the air, winning 56 percent of his aerial duels compared with Clichy’s 39 percent.
The statistics further underline Clichy’s credentials. He is the better all-round player. Given City are a club making significant use of statistics, with far more intelligent analysis than provided here, it’s little wonderPellegrini seems to prefer Clichy to Kolarov when both are fit and at their best.
Kolarov may have the headline-grabbing explosive left foot, but Clichyis superior. With the Frenchman now 30, though, City will surely look to evolve their left-back options in a transfer window not too far away.
They do, of course, have a very promising young player on loan at sister club New York City FC. Angelino had a fine season for the EDS last season and looks to have a bright future.
There are holes in his game—particularly defensively—that have been exposed even in MLS, a far inferior league to the one he hopes to make his name in. Whether he can improve enough to make the jump into City’s first team remains unclear, but he is a wonderfully talented young player who is capable of making the necessary adjustments to his game and becoming a top-class player.
For now, it continues to be a straight race between Clichy and Kolarov. The Serbian's start to the season has been exceptional and he deserves great credit, but Clichy has shown throughout his time at City he is the safer, more solid option.
Once he returns from injury, it will be very interesting to see how longKolarov keeps hold of the shirt.
