Fitness of ageing but infuential Fernandinho could come to define Manchester City's season

Titles and trophies are not won until the trees have blossomed in the spring, but they can be lost by the time the last of the leaves have turned from green to brown and dropped from their branches in autumn.

It is something Manchester City must be wary of, as they head into the next five weeks with two out of their three specialist centre backs out injured and an ageing defensive midfielder Fernandinho pressed into action as an emergency defender.

Fernandinho has always been a key component of City’s trophy winning machine, but his impact has come as a one-man wrecking ball in front of the defence. Few players can cover more ground, break up more opposition attacks and win back more possession than the Brazilian.

Now into his seventh season in Manchester, Fernandinho has been the glue that has stuck the City team together as a defensive unit. Along with France’s N’Golo Kante, there has been no better, or more influential, player in his position, the sentry on patrol in front of the back four, since Claude Makele redefined how crucial it could be for Real Madrid and Chelsea.

But at the age of 34, and as hard as he might try to defy the ageing process, his physical powers are fading. That is why City spent so much money on another defensive midfielder, Rodri, in the summer, the Spaniard arriving from Atletico Madrid with the intention of eventually replacing Fernandinho.

City, though, cannot afford to let that happen. Not yet. Pep Guardiola knows the former Brazil international is possibly more important to the team now than he has ever been. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that his team’s title aspirations are, for the next month or so at least, hostage to the fitness of a player who was meant to have his workload eased this season.

Should the oldest player in the City squad pick up an injury in the next couple of weeks; should a ligament or a muscle strain – of worse tear – while John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are out injured, Guardiola’s fourth season at the Etihad Stadium could fall apart faster than an ice sculpture under a midday sun in the desert.

Already five points behind Liverpool, even in the early learning stage of the campaign, City cannot afford to fall even further behind. Having taken the gamble not to replace Vincent Kompany in the summer, it has backfired and they will face domestic games against Watford, Preston North End in the League Cup, Everton, Wolves, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa looking more stretched in the middle of their defence than at any time previously under Guardiola.

Fernandinho is not a centre back but he can play there and cope with most things. He revealed after City’s comfortable 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk that he has been “training in that position since the start of the season.”

Guardiola knew the risks attached to the decision not to sign another centre back in the summer and Fernandinho was his insurance plan.

But should he or Nicolas Otamendi join the injured list, City will have to rely on the 18-year-old Eric Garcia – with three Carabao Cup appearances to his name - or the 17-year-old, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who is yet to play a competitive first team game. Neither would inspire confidence, both would give every Premier League opponent confidence they are a weakness to expose.

Norwich have already damaged City’s aura of invincibility and asked questions of their defensive resolve when put under pressure by attack-minded rivals, but a defence deprived of Fernandinho or Otamendi really would look vulnerable.

“He's going to be massively important there,” admitted Ilkay Gundogan, who alongside Rodri formed a solid midfield shield in front of them on Wednesday night. “It’s very important that he's going to play now, maybe all the games, depending on his fitness, if he is able to.

“He's vital now. We have two defenders out at the moment, with Aymer long-term, John I don't know, not as long as Aymer, but maybe back after the international break, so the next games we need Dinho even more… it’s going to be vital to stay stable at the back, then up front we're always able to score.”

That is how City approached the clash with Shakhtar, following the old adage that the best form of defence is attack. They will believe they can do the same in their domestic games too, but even with Fernandinho fit, teams will want to test out his speed over the ground, his strength and, particularly his ability to deal with an aerial bombardment.

Watford’s Troy Deeney will be looking forward to facing him this weekend, for a start, but imagine the relish strikers will have if they are being marked by Garcia or Harwood-Bellis. Given the injury situation, both teenagers will almost certainly start the game against Preston, which puts City’s chances of retaining the Carabao Cup into some early jeopardy.

Guardiola will instruct his medical and fitness staff to keep a close eye on Fernandinho, to try and do everything they can to help him recover from his midweek exertions before the weekend, but has already conceded he does not know if “he can play two games in four days.”

He will probably have to, but it will be done at a risk, like climbing a large rock face without a safety rope. After all, Fernandinho’s fitness was already an increasingly fragile thing before this mini-crisis.

“We saw last season that he's able to play in that [centre back] position,” added Bernardo Silva. “He's very intelligent and when you understand the game and you're intelligent like he is, it's easy. Obviously, it's not the ideal situation, because we don't have a lot of centre-backs right now, but it's what we have and we have no complaints.”

There will be plenty, though, if City lose more ground to Liverpool, are knocked out of the League Cup next week and return to action after the next international break, with a gap of eight or more points to close in the title race.

Things are not ideal at the moment, but if they lose Fernandinho, Guardiola really would be in trouble.