Pep Guardiola says Vincent Kompany still in Man City plans

Pep Guardiola says Vincent Kompany can still succeed in his Manchester City side despite ongoing fitness problems.

City's captain started back-to-back games for the first time since March when he was named in the side for Wednesday night's EFL Cup tie at Manchester United.

But the defender was withdrawn at half-time after complaining of tiredness, and United went on to reach the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win.

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Kompany's future has since been questioned in several English newspapers but Guardiola, speaking ahead of Saturday's trip to West Brom, said: "All professional players can play in different styles, and of course he can [play in my side.

"He has a contract, no? So of course, I don't know what the problem is.

"He didn't play as much the last two seasons and we want to keep him safe. We want him to have the same options as his team-mates. We want to take care of all the players.

"The game against Southampton he played 78 minutes and he said he can't play no more, and the last game was 45 minutes. We need to handle the situation until he can play 90 minutes.

"It was just three days after Southampton, so maybe that's why he was tired."

Guardiola said he did not yet know whether Kevin De Bruyne, Bacary Sagna or Pablo Zabaleta would be fit for the weekend when Tony Pulis, fresh from signing a new contract, will be in the opposition dugout.

"Congratulations to Tony on his new contract," Guardiola said. "West Brom use his style marvellously. I saw against Tottenham [in a 1-1 draw this month], they use the long ball and they defend low. We have to adapt."

City go into that game without a win in six - Guardiola's worst run as a boss - but remain top of the Premier League on goal difference.

"Many things have changed in the last six games," he said. "In the beginning we were winning and now we're not. But, we are fighting, like we were in the beginning. I need time to learn, improve...I am still in that process.

"Maybe this situation will make us stronger for the future. I'm pretty sure of that. For the next period, not just this season but the next season as well. Maybe we will learn from that and be stronger."

More games: friv

Manchester City: Rushing Vincent Kompany back for derby is unnecessary risk

Manchester City’s game against Manchester United might be the biggest game of the new Premier League season so far, but Pep Guardiola still needs to resist temptation to bring back centre-back Vincent Kompany.

Manchester City centre-back Vincent Kompany is being linked with a potential return to the City starting lineup this weekend. City, of course, play their local rivals Manchester United, but fielding Kompany would be an unnecessary risk at this stage of the season.

Jose Mourinho, too, has injuries to contend with and talks of United fielding players who are not physically where they should be is being debated. Now Pep Guardiola, allegedly, could consider fielding Kompany, despite the Belgian not playing a single minute for City for more than four months.

It’s totally unnecessary. Guardiola has concerns over Nicolas Otamendi returning from international duty late on Thursday before Saturday’s derby. But Kompany is still working his way back to fitness. What’s the rush for one game?

Ultimately, that’s all it is: one game. One big game. But still only three points on the board for a win. The title will not be decided in September. If this game was in March, then it would be a different story.

You also have rival contenders who may eventually turn out to be one of these team’s biggest rival for the Premier League title. United and City can’t worry about each other too much and take their eye off the long game that’s going on.

Arsenal and Chelsea, in particular, are still to fully show their hands this season. Whilst Leicester, Tottenham and Liverpool will also feel like they have more to prove. You don’t know the lie of the land right now after just three games.

City need Kompany for as much of this season as possible. A partnership with John Stones could be perfect for the style Guardiola likes to play. But that partnership is needed for more than just one game.

You can beat United 6-1 again, but what’s the point if you damage your long-term ambitions? Aleksandar Kolarov has done well enough in the role at centre-back this season. If Otamendi can’t go, then Guardiola should turn to the Serbian left back to fill in for a game.

If Kompany happens to be 100 percent fit and healthy, then fine. Play him by all means. But what are the chances of that? If he was that fit already then Otamendi wouldn’t even be in the conversation to begin with.

Guardiola is clearly exploring his options. But the Spaniard had the right approach a few days ago. Guardiola spoke of Kompany only coming back when he is absolutely ready. And that’s the right course of action.

It might be tempting to throw an almost-fit Vincent Kompany into such a big game. But it’s a temptation that Guardiola needs to resist.

Manchester City must sell their injury-plagued star defender Vincent Kompany

To make room for Everton’s coveted young star John Stones, Manchester City must sell their star defender Vincent Kompany.

It has been reported that Manchester City have offered £53 million for Everton starlet John Stones, who they continue to pursue even after Chelsea were unsuccessful in signing him last season. Stones is one of the hottest young stars in the Premier League and could be the anchor to City’s side for the next decade or so.

In eight years at the Etihad, Vincent Kompany has suffered 33 injuries, most of which have been calf problems. appeared in just 22 games last campaign as he battled recurring injuries and even missed Euro 2016.

During the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, the 30-year-old slumped on the pitch and signaled to Pellegrini asking to be replaced. Kompany knew his season at City and featuring in Euro 2016 were all in jeopardy, after sustaining a groin mishap, his fifth different injury of the season.

City must look to cash in on Kompany while he is still at his relative peak because of his tumultuous injury record. Although Kompany is the club captain and embodies the club spirit well, they must not mix business with sentiment. When fully fit, he is a world class defender any Premier League team would love to have but his fitness is not guaranteed.

Kompany’s spot in City’s starting XI is also no longer secure, so selling him would be great for both parties. They have brought in two excellent defenders in Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala who are both younger and seem much more durable than the Belgian. They are not quite the player he is but what good is talent if it is sitting in the training room during matches?

According to express.co.uk writer Joe Short, Turkish League Champions Besiktas are attempting to lure the City captain with a bid of £25 million. While it is doubtful he will make the switch because of his £130,000-a-week wages at City, you certainly get the sense that Kompany’s days at Etihad are numbered.

EXCLUSIVE: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in £50m battle for John Stones

JOSE MOURINHO and Pep Guardiola are locked in a £50m battle to sign John Stones.

Mourinho tried and failed to land Stones last summer while at Chelsea and has renewed his interest now he is in charge at Manchester United.

But now it has emerged that Manchester City boss and bitter rival Guardiola is set to target the Everton defender as well after missing out on Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte.

Guardiola wanted Laporte, despite the fact he has been out of action with a broken leg and dislocated ankle.

But the Spaniard was snubbed when Laporte decided to sign a new deal with Bilbao instead.

It is understood Laporte now has a £55m buy-out clause in his contract that Guardiola has no interest in activating.

Instead he will attempt to lure England defender Stones to the Etihad and steal him from under the nose of Mourinho.

Guardiola believes Stones can be the long-term successor to Vincent Kompany, who continues to struggle with serious injury problems.

It sets up the prospect of the two biggest managers in the world going head-to-head this summer for one of the brightest prospects in English football.

Mourinho had three bids of up to £40m rejected by the Toffeees last summer, who held firm to keep hold of one of their prize assets.

But Mourinho remains a huge admirer of the 22-year-old and knows he must strengthen his defence as he looks to rebuild a title-winning side at Old Trafford.

Mourinho has been given £200m to spend on new signings and is on a mission to bring in some marquee names.

Stones is on his list of targets along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, while Mourinho has already landed Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly in a £30m deal.

Mourinho is not prepared to miss out on getting Stones again - let alone to Guardiola - and will offer him a long-term deal worth around £150,000-a-week that he thinks the centre back will not be able to turn down.

News that both Manchester giants are locked in a battle to land Stones will not impress England boss Roy Hodgson.

Stones is in France with the Three Lions for Euro 2016 and Hodgson is desperate for his stars not to be distracted during the tournament.

DID LOSING VINCENT KOMPANY DISMANTLE MANCHESTER CITY’S TITLE BID?

Manchester City haven’t enjoyed the best of season’s despite an impressive Champions League run to the semifinals. They are clinging onto fourth spot in the Premier League with one game to go as Dan McClue looks at one reason why it may have gone wrong for them this year.

Manchester City were many people’s pick to win the Premier League this season, and if not they were expected to push for the title all the way.

Currently, they sit fourth with one game to go and their Champions League spot is under serious threat from the rivals in red, Manchester United.

Should they fall out of the top four it would be a disastrous way to end what is has been an underrated reign from Manuel Pellegrini and would also give new boss Pep Guardiola a troubled start to his City career.

But where has it gone wrong this season? For me, the consistent injuries to club captain Vincent Kompany have cost them more than anything else.

The Belgian international joined the Sky Blues in 2008 from Hamburg and has since become their captain and played in 298 matches, scoring 14 goals from defence.

This season Kompany has started 22 games overall (14 in the Premier League) and has been forced off before the 10th minute in four of those matches due to injuries. In a 38-game league season, City needed their best defender and leader to start more than 25 games to be in with a shout of challenging for the title.

The Citizens are blessed with formidable attacking talent as Sergio Aguero is the best striker in the league and Kevin De Bruyne is on the way to becoming one of the world’s top playmakers despite also struggling with injuries this season.

However, without Kompany their defence has looked untrustworthy and vulnerable. Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala when paired together have arguably only had one top quality match – the second-leg Champions League tie against PSG. Martin Demichelis has never looked like a stable option for the club but all three centre-backs look twice as good when paired with Kompany.

A good example of the captain’s importance is when we look at the club’s two title-winning seasons. In 2011/12 he played 42 games overall, 31 being in the league. In 2013/14 when they won their second Premier League title he played in 37 games overall (scoring five goals) with 28 league appearances. They finished second in the season between their triumphs – the same position as last year but won’t be in the top two come the end of this campaign.

In the 2012/13 season Kompany played in 26 league games and last season he played 25 games in the top flight. This shows that while there may not be much of a difference on paper between playing 25 games and playing 28 games, if the league is won by 3-6 points those games that Kompany missed would certainly have made City more competitive had they had their captain.

It is of obvious importance for a title challenging team to have a solid defence with a leader on the pitch. Manchester United had Nemanja Vidic in the 2010/11 and 2012/13 seasons and he was also helped by Rio Ferdinand. City had Kompany in the 2011/12 and 2013/14 seasons and Chelsea had John Terry in 2014/15. All those centre-backs were not only formidable defenders but their respective club captains.

The championship winning teams would certainly have shaped up differently had they been without these players for 10+ games. These players organise the defence on the field and have the authority to command respect from the rest of their team, which is why without Kompany players like Otamendi and Mangala look lost without their leader.

The question for City now is where do they go from here? Both with Kompany and the rest of the team. The captain is 30 years old. For most top defenders they should be able to play until about 33 before struggling to maintain at the top level. That would give Kompany at least three more seasons, but his injury record makes it difficult to predict his future.

According to transfermarkt.co.uk, Kompany is currently valued at £22.5 million. City could look to cash in on their top defender if they feel the injuries he keeps picking up will sustain and they would be able to get more than that valuation from a team desperate for a top quality centre back in Europe. He now looks set to miss the next four months and will subsequently miss the start of Guardiola’s reign.

The club would definitely receive a backlash from the fans if they sold him, as despite the injury problems he is their club captain for a reason. Over the past two seasons they have spent over £50 million combined on Otamendi and Mangala to give cover for Kompany and to have a competent player alongside him at centre back. Despite City’s apparent endless riches it is not sensible for them to be splashing out on defenders every year trying to find a strong enough centre back pairing to consistently win them the league.

While I couldn’t see City selling Kompany in the next two or three years it should be something they consider, as cashing in on the aging star with recurring injury problems might help them to move on as far as their defensive worries are concerned.

One thing for sure is that Pep Guardiola will certainly have some important decisions to make when he arrives in the summer.

Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany expected to miss start of new season

Vincent Kompany’s thigh injury is expected to keep him out for four months meaning Manchester City’s captain will miss the start of next season under the club’s new coach, Pep Guardiola.

However Lieven Maesschalck, the Belgium team doctor, claims the 30-year-old could still play on for five more years if he recovers fully.

Kompany suffered the problem in the opening minutes of City’s 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabéu last Wednesday. The central defender is ruled out of Belgium’s Euro 2016 campaign, which starts in June, and now is set to be unavailable for Guardiola when the 2016-17 season starts.

While the Spaniard replaces Manuel Pellegrini on 1 July, Kompany faces a long summer of rehabilitation from what is a 33rd injury of his eight years at the club.

His troubled history and the length he will be out may threaten his long-term future at the club.

According to Maesschalck, Kompany may not return until the end of August. “I’ve seen Kompany [last] Thursday. It was very clear: he has a complete tear of the slender thigh muscle,” he told the country’s Radio 1. “It will take about four months to get match fit again. How bad it is, Vincent must now look forward to next season. It was inevitable, he had no choice. The decision is final.

“Kompany was obviously very disappointed. For him, everything [is] Belgium. He wanted to do everything to be there at the European Championships. The body of Kompany is under enormous pressure, the time pressure is always there and he is very demanding of himself. On the other hand, it is phenomenal how he deals with the disillusionment. He draws all courage for the next chapter. I’m sure he’ll be back. Now he has the opportunity to rest and recover his body well.”

Maesschalck is clear Kompany can still look forward to many more years playing at the highest level. “I’m 100% sure he can handle it effectively,” he said. “Kompany sets himself always in a positive way. It is a privilege to work with such a personality. Vincent has been playing 16 years at the top level. [Marc] Wilmots [national coach] has also often been injured and always returned to the highest level.

“In the NBA, I have seen the same thing many times. This does not mean the end of the career of Kompany. He needs only one match to get back at the top level. A winner if he can handle it. And he still can compete at the highest level for at least five years.”

Martino tries with Demichelis and Pinola

Argentina coach prepares for Bolivia clash with two new central defenders

After the 2-1 away victory over Chile on Thursday, Argentina coach Gerardo Martino tried with Martín Demichelis and Javier Pinola as central defenders in yesterday’s practice session for Tuesday’s match against Bolivia at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba in the sixth round of the World Cup South American qualifiers.

The new defenders pair seem to be the coach’s choice to replace Nicolás Otamendi and Ramiro Funes Mori, who played against Chile and both have a one-match ban.

The 35-year-old Demichelis plays for Manchester City. Although he is usually benched, he has been playing a lot for the English team in the last weeks due to Vincent Kompany’s injuries.

The former River Plate and Bayern Munich defender won more support from fans after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where he received a last-minute call by coach Alejandro Sabella to join the Argentine squad and earned a place in the first team during the tournament. Tuesday’s match could be one of his last with the national team.

Pinola was called up by Martino to be part of the team for the second time in his career. The 33-year-old defender played one match with the Albiceleste in 2007, with Alfio Basile as coach.

The former Racing Club and Germany’s Nürnberg player Pinola joined Rosario Central last year and won the attention of Martino due to his fantastic form with Eduardo Coudet’s team. Central battled for the 2015 First Division tournament until the end, reached the Copa Argentina final last year and is now competing for both the Transitional championship and Libertadores Cup, and Pinola is one of the main reasons for those campaigns.

Martino will leave Mateo Mussachio on the bench, as the Villarreal defender has just recovered from an injury.

Apart from Otamendi and Funes Mori, Ezequiel Lavezzi cannot be part of the team either, as he also has a one-game ban.

In yesterday’s practice session, the coach made another change: Javier Mascherano took Matías Kranevitter’s place as defensive midfielder.

Martino fielded: Sergio Romero; Gabriel Mercado, Demichelis, Pinola, Marcos Rojo; Lucas Biglia, Mascherano, Éver Banega; Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero and Ángel Di María.

Meanwhile, Bolivia coach Julio César Baldivieso said yesterday that he is thinking about using a man-to-man defence for Messi in Córdoba.

“We’re thinking about using a man-to-man defence for Messi, but he is not the only one who can make the difference. It’s complicated to face Argentina, a team full of soccer stars,” said Baldivieso in Radio Mitre.

The Bolivian side returned to training sessions yesterday after losing 3-2 at home to Colombia on Thursday and the coach is planning to make many changes due to suspensions and injuries.

“Argentina did not play well against Chile, but in soccer you win with goals, and we did not deserve to lose against Colombia,” he said.

Bolivia will have to make at least three changes. Defenders Edward Zenteno and Leonel Morales will miss the match due to a one-game suspension and an injury, respectively. Midfielder Damián Lizio left the squad for personal issues.

Baldivieso’s job is already in jeopardy due to his tense relation with the federation officials, one of them Walter Torrico, due to the poor results in the qualifiers.

The coach said after his defeat on Thursday that these could be his “last days in charge of the team.” A hard defeat against Argentina could mean the end of his stint as Bolivia coach.

Martino’s men have eight points after five games, while Bolivia has only three.

Otamendi admits Manchester City miss Kompany

Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi believes it is only logical they are struggling defensively without Vincent Kompany.

Nicolas Otamendi hopes to be playing alongside Vincent Kompany again "as quickly as possible", conceding that Manchester City are not the same side without their captain in the team.

The Belgium international has been limited to nine starts in all competitions this season by a calf injury, although City have conceded a mere three goals and kept seven clean sheets in those games.

A 4-1 thrashing at home to Liverpool, as well as defeats at Stoke City and Arsenal have been suffered in Kompany's absence.

Otamendi feels it is only logical Kompany is being missed and believes any team in the world would struggle without a player of the Belgian's calibre.

"We have all been subjected to some criticism at some point this season, but any team would miss Vinny. He is a top player, he is aggressive on the pitch and he has been a big loss for us," Otamendi told The Independent.

"We hope to get him back as quickly as possible and that anyone the manager puts in to replace him can stay solid during that time. The games I played together with Vinny, I really enjoyed the partnership, both in the derby against Manchester United and in the Champions League against Sevilla. 

"I felt we were developing something there. He is obviously a top player and he helps us a great deal when he is on the pitch."

Otamendi has been playing alongside former Porto team-mate Eliaquim Mangala in Kompany's absence and he feels the Frenchman has plenty to offer, too.

"Recently, I have been playing with Mangala and he is a top player too," he added.

"He is young, but he is developing as a professional and also as a personality, I can see that on the pitch.

"He was different when I played with him at Porto. He was a lot more aggressive on the pitch, but I think he has developed since then and is a good fit for the Premier League."

Football Manager 2016: 14 English Wonderkids You Have To Sign

Media Handling: 100%. Loyalty To Players: 100%. Financial Control: 100%. Domestic Player Bias: 1%.

Ever since your life was greatly enhanced by Football Manager’s presence, you’ll have grappled with hotbeds of football. They could be continents, regions, or specific nations that yielded immense crops of players year-in year-out. We were all baffled around the 2008 mark when Belgium suddenly turned into the place to be, with Anthony Vanden Borre, Olivier Deschacht, and a young Vincent Kompany rising up from obscurity to become absolute world-beaters.

In recent years, Argentina has spawned some unbelievable talents for pennies, and pretty much everyone will have their own preference for where to go for their shopping. However, it’s very rare that anyone looks in their own back garden to secure the hottest young world talents without even leaving England.

In the real world, it’s common knowledge that a young English starlet will command a far higher fee than counterparts around the world, and this is mirrored in-game. Why would anyone splash £10 million and inflated wages on a young central midfielder when they can be acquired elsewhere for less than half of that?

But while you may be tempted to scout the Peruvian top flight to unearth hidden gems, load up Football Manager 2016 and feast your eyes on these homegrown talents who will all be getting to know each other soon enough in the virtual England squad of the future.