Manchester City Fan View: Citizens must give minutes to promising youngsters

Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the season so far, limbering to a 2-1 deficit against Shakhtar Donetsk away in the Champions League earlier this week. The game itself was, for the Sky Blues, only a formality; Pep Guardiola’s side had already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition as group leaders, regardless of the result against the Ukrainian outfit.

That was undoubtedly the reason why, with the upcoming, eagerly-anticipated Manchester derby on Pep Guardiola’s mind, the Spanish coach opted to wring the changes in the final group stage fixture. Ederson, Fernandinho, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus were the only first team regulars to make the starting 11, with squad players such as Eliaquim Mangala, Danilo, Ilkay Gundogan, Yaya Toure and Bernardo Silva making up the bulk of the remainder of the line-up.

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However, City fans were pleased to see that Tosin Adarabioyo, Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz all featured in some capacity during the 90 minutes. The latter came on as a substitute in the second half, yet was arguably the most impressive of the trio, although all three caught the eye in what was otherwise a pretty drab performance.

It was not solely a case of City’s young stars standing out against an uninspiring host of first team players, though. Adarabioyo, Foden and Brahim provided three of the best performances on the pitch.

Adarabioyo started alongside the average Eliaquim Mangala in a back three but seemed far more composed both on and off the ball. With Mangala and Danilo often being exposed by Shakhtar’s slickers in the offensive areas, Adarabioyo stepped up and stepped in on a few occasions to prevent further damage being done.

Phil Foden started as a left wing back which caught many City supporters by surprise, as the England under-17 international is more typically utilised as an advanced midfield player or as an out and out winger. However, on the whole, he coped with his defensive duties and was one of few bright sparks in the City side.

The 17 year old was pivotal to the successes of England’s youth setup in the tournament and, as a result, was awarded the U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award this year for his contributions.

Guardiola has admitted that he is a big fan of Foden, who is a local lad and City supporter himself. But it is important that his talent is not stifled. Of course, he is still just 17 and is getting regular action at youth level. However, he needs to be playing more first team minutes to accumulate experience of the top level, even if it is simply through cup competition for the next season or two.

Brahim only featured against Shakhtar for the latter period of the match, but his trickery, dribbling and flair – and his confidence in doing so in European competition – were a breath of fresh air. On several occasions, the Spanish wonder kid performed an evasive maneuver, such as a roulette, to retain possession under tight pressure and found a teammate in space to advance the attacks.

His, as well as Foden’s, final ball could be improved, but that will come with time, experience and maturity. What is important for these three players, and all of the Citizens’ other talented youngsters who have trained alongside the first team this term, is that they are actually given first team minutes, sooner rather than later.