SERGIO
Sergio Aguero's Manchester City place could be under threat
as he struggles to adapt to life under new Etihad boss Pep Guardiola.
That's the view of former England
man Phil Neville, who has questioned whether Argentinian star Aguero can adapt
to the role Guardiola is demanding of him.
Aguero has a startling City record -
147 goals in 219 appearances and two Premier League titles - but was
surprisingly left out of the heavy Champions League defeat by Barcelona this
week before returning to start in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Southampton at The
Etihad.
That said, Match of the Day pundit
Neville believes both City and Aguero are still adapting to the way former
Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola wants them to play.
'I'm slightly worried for Aguero
because sometimes Pep doesn't like centre forwards in his team at all,' said
the Manchester United legend.
'He likes them to be flexible and he likes them to be able
to play out wide. He did it with (Thierry) Henry at Barcelona, with David
Villa as well and Thomas Muller at Bayern Munich.
'You have to be adaptable to play
centre forward with Guardiola. Aguero didn't get picked against Barcelona and
in the second half (against Southampton) he played in a different position and
he only got into the opposition box four times.
'It's not enough for a player of his
quality.'
City fans would struggle to
comprehend any criticism of Aguero, a man whose goals have delivered the club
the sort of success they could only have dreamed about in years gone by.
'I think Pep's got a lot of ideas about how he wants to
play,' Neville said, referring to the 3-4-3 formation employed by Guardiola
against Southampton.
Aguero started at the head of an
attacking trident against the Saints but saw his role changed when Kelechi
Iheanacho - who scored City's equaliser - came off the bench for the second
half.
'It's a load of rubbish to say
there's a crisis at Manchester City,' Neville added.
'I think the players are getting
used to working under Guardiola.
'They're a fantastic team with a
fantastic manager and they are the favourites to win the title.'
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