As French newspaper L’Equipe writes today about Manchester City’s away clash with Everton for the Premier League, they focus on one or two things they have to say about Pep Guardiola’s side.
The spotlight is on Aymeric Laporte, who’s been struggling to get minutes in the Premier League. He hasn’t entered the pitch since the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in November, and L’Equipe claims that his relationship with the manager is ‘fatally strained’.
The outlet points out that John Stones seems to be a central defender who suits better a partnership with Ruben Dias, and says that all of Pep Guardiola’s comments on that position seem to be a message for Laporte.
They quote the manager from the time he said “Ruben doesn’t make mistakes, he’s always focused. He’s helped us to be stronger, and his understanding with John is amazing. This is what keeps us in the race”, and take that as an indirect explanation for Laporte on why he’s benched.
L’Equipe also writes about another of Manchester City’s Frenchmen, which is Benjamin Mendy.
Even though Guardiola has been making encouraging comments about him, L’Equipe insists that his faith in the player isn’t big, and that’s why Manchester City have been linked to other fullbacks, such as Nicolás Tagliafico from Ajax.
They say Mendy is ‘irregular and often injured‘, and that’s ‘everything that annoys the Catalan manager’.
