Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini this week told his team’s news site how he is dealing with injured captain Vincent Kompany.
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West Ham’s last league win at City came at Maine Road in April 2003 and their only victory at the Etihad was recorded in a March 2006 FA Cup tie, but they did beat City 2-1 at the Boleyn Ground last season and can give them a run for their money.
Pellegrini says “it is important for Nicolas Otamendi to have his opportunity to demonstrate why he is here”.
“So it’s not just one problem – that’s the way he always works”.
He had Yaya Touré chasing shadows all game, his long legs making what he does look so effortless and easy, leaving Touré stranded in the distance.
City captain Vincent Kompany injures calf, out for the season: One of the costs of City’s loss against Juve is the calf injury the 29-year-old center back suffered at the 75th-minute of the game. I hope at the end of this month he will be okay.
“It is always important [not] to have injured players, especially the captain and especially in a moment when we didn’t concede any goals in the first five games”.
With the news of the return of Sergio Aguero, City will be looking to add to the firepower that they lacked against Crystal Palace and against Juventus.
“Sergio Aguero has recovered very well, he is 100 per cent, so he will play without any problems”.
Nicolas Otamendi got the start in place of Kompany on Saturday, while Martin Demichelis replaced Mangala and could start if the latter has to miss any additional time.
“We have a squad and I never complain about players that can’t play”. We know we must be very careful about their counter-attacks and set-pieces and try to be a balanced team during the whole game. Buffon made a string of top drawer saves to keep Manchester City at bay at crucial junctures in the match.
But he is wary of the threat posed by Slaven Bilic’s Hammers following their shock wins at Arsenal and Liverpool.
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“It was a unusual game and I don’t think we deserved to lose it. I thought we played better than Juventus but they are a strong team”.
