Fernandinho thrives in old position to emerge as Manchester City's greatest weapon in title race
Ask people why Manchester City’s defence of the Premier League title failed so spectacularly last season and you will probably hear that it was because they did not adequately replace Vincent Kompany. That’s the right answer but it goes a little further than that too.
Kompany was a totemic figure at City, a standard bearer as both a player and a captain. Yet his long-established struggles to stay fit meant that he made only 17 appearances in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 Premier League title-winning campaigns. Still, that was more than he had managed in any season since 2014-15.
The truth is, Kompany was not a regular for the final four years of his brilliant City career.
When he left, the problem wasn’t that they failed to sign a centre-half good enough to directly replace a club legend, it was that they failed to sign any sort of centre-half at all. An extra body to cover Kompany’s 1,200 minutes and provide cover for Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi was all that was required. And yet, one never arrived.
Guardiola came up with a solution. Fernandinho was dropped back into defence, but removing him from the tenacious holding midfield role that he had perfected over the course of those previous two title-winning campaigns would have a knock-on effect throughout the rest of the team and carry dire consequences for the rest of City’s season.
There was good, solid logic behind Guardiola’s decision. Fernandinho had deputised at centre-half previously and performed well, despite his relatively slight physical presence and diminished aerial ability. He is also the oldest player in the squad - he turned 35 in May this year - and City had spent £62.8m after finally identifying his long-term successor in the holding role: Rodri.
The succession did not go so smoothly, though. A comparison of Fernandinho’s 2018-19 performances as a holding midfielder with Rodri’s displays the following season reveals some of what City were missing. Whereas Fernandinho won a tackle or intercepted the ball once every 25 minutes, Rodri only managed one tackle or interception every 31 minutes, while Ilkay Gundogan did so every 37 minutes.
Still, Fernandinho hardly ever returned to the base of midfield last term - even once Laporte returned from a lengthy knee ligament injury - and City suffered as a result. One side-effect was that City became noticeably more vulnerable to fast counter-attacking breaks through the middle of the pitch, most memorably in the defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad last October.
And so, for City’s first game of the new Premier League season, it was not entirely surprising to see Fernandinho return to his position of old against none other than Wolves.
Given that they profile as a near-perfect Guardiola bogey side, and after successfully doing the double over City last season, Wolves would have been hopeful of bloodying their nose once more. Instead, their attempts to break through City’s lines were smothered, suffocated and literally stomped out by a midfield pairing of Fernandinho alongside Rodri.
Both played well - and were the main contenders for City’s man-of-the-match alongside Kevin De Bruyne - but it was Fernandinho’s nous and knowledge of the position which stood out. His performance caught Guardiola’s attention too, eliciting one of the longest and most enthusiastic answers out of an oddly downbeat City manager during his post-match press conference.
“He'll be really important,” Guardiola said of his newly-appointed club captain, voted in by the players. There was one note of caution amid City’s packed schedule. “He cannot play every three days. Last year he struggled a lot to be fit for most of the season. But he played really well with Rodri. They were both good with and without the ball.”
This wasn’t the first time since the start of last season that Fernandinho has played as a holding midfielder and when he returned to the role during Project Restart, results were not great. He was particularly poor in the 1-0 defeat against Southampton and City lacked their usual control while beating Bournemouth 2-1 at home.
Having him back where he belongs is not a panacea. Those sub-par displays could be put down to the rustiness that comes with not playing in a certain position for a while, or maybe he is not as reliable in that position anymore as his age finally catches up with him. There is every chance that in this uniquely congested campaign, a 35-year-old will be exposed in the most demanding role in a demanding system.
But for now, arguably the most important player across Guardiola’s Premier League title-winning seasons is back in the role that he mastered and which suits him best. On the evidence of this excellent display at Molineux, that can only be a good thing for City’s bid to regain their crown.
