Manchester City: Time to move on from İlkay Gündoğan?

While Manchester City’s German midfielder İlkay Gündoğan has not gone without his fair share of criticism over the years, both media and supporters have defended the player by saying that he is truly valuable to the team in a way that is not easily apparent.

Stating that İlkay Gündoğan feels like a round peg in a square hole that is the Manchester City team is not a new idea. Given the fluid, forward-pressing, and dynamic system that City play, his engine-like midfield play never seems to fit quite right into the team. This unnatural fit has been highly visible across each of City’s last two Champions League eliminations, when manager Pep Guardiola played his first-ever City signing to the detriment of the team.

With Guardiola’s tactics in question following City’s elimination at the hands of Lyon, it must be asked why the player continues to feature so regularly on the team sheet in crucial matches when the results simply are not going the team’s way. As previously stated, Gündoğan is not an ideal fit for this team’s midfield, and the fact that none of City’s three midfield positions suit his play style is a clear indication of this.

The holding midfield role is the best spot for the German in my opinion, as his greatest strengths are setting tempo and keeping possession of the ball, which is required of City’s number six when they have the ball. The issues here arise defensively, where he is an objectively inferior choice to Rodri or Fernandinho in terms of shielding a back four and covering ground on counter-attacks.

Therefore, Guardiola typically chooses to employ Gündoğan in a two holding-midfielder system next to one of the more defensive options in big games, and this has consistently proven to be a tactical mistake. The logic behind the choice is simple and makes sense on the surface level; City have defensive issues, so putting in a player who defends better than Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, or David Silva would help stability and conceding less goals, offsetting the loss of a more creative player.

However, in practice, this selection has had the opposite effect. When Gündoğan is employed in the number eight role, City’s attack is absolutely cut at the knees, as witnessed when City looked helpless to score in the first leg against Spurs a year ago and in the first half of the Lyon match this season. Moreover, he simply does not provide the defensive stability. In both matches, City conceded and ended up losing, failing on both fronts.

Therefore, the question must be asked. What does Gündoğan add to the team? Against Lyon, he looked so lost in the 5-3-2 system that it almost felt like City were down to 10 men, and in effect, they were. In a side as competitive as City, with top-quality players forced to come off the bench, every spot must be under the utmost scrutiny. Gündoğan takes a spot from one of the Premier League’s most electric attacking talents and to the clear detriment of the team.

The German does have his intangible positives, such as providing a veteran presence and a player who keeps calm, but he is not as technically gifted as his competitors, is weak in tight spaces, and cannot dribble his way out of trouble. If City want to reach the next level, they cannot simply keep players in the team for marginal benefits, as every part of this machine must be doing its share.

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With Thiago Alcântara available and apparently on his way to Liverpool for just £30 million, it is shocking that City would not consider jumping into the race given the difficulty Liverpool have had getting the deal over the line. The former La Masia product made his debut under Guardiola at Barcelona, and unlike Gündoğan, looked an absolute midfield maestro in Bayern Munich’s 8-2 domination over Barcelona.

Alcântara is perfect for Guardiola’s system; he has a world-class range of passing, is one of the world’s best dribbling central midfielders, can do a job defensively and control the tempo at the base of midfield. In today’s market, City could easily generate £30 million for a player like Gündoğan, who has a high reputation, or they could even convince Bayern into a swap. Thiago is only going for so little because of his contract running down and his desire to leave Germany, so I’m sure that Bayern would rather take a ready-made replacement (they do love former Dortmund players) than a fee that does not help much in an inflated market.

In my view, Alcântara provides everything Gündoğan does to the City team and more. They are the same age as well, and if City are truly to ascend to European heights, the club must take a deeper look and not simply settle when a better option is easily available.