Pep Guardiola’s decision to select Aymeric Laporte and John Stones as his centre-backs to face Chelsea on Saturday, while leaving Ruben Dias on the bench, dominated the pre-match conversation.
It was the sort of selection decision for a big game where, if the result had gone against City, we’d have been neck-deep in discussions of Guardiola ‘overthink’.
Of course, Pep over overthinks absolutely every game, as is his wont. In this instance, Laporte and Stones were so imperious in a pivotal 1-0 victory - save for an early slip from the England man that Romelu Lukaku might have punished - he was able to brush off the post-match discussion.
“I decided on John, that’s all,” Guardiola replied in his press conference, keeping his cards so close to his chest they were inside his club shop jumper.
That allowed a very sensible consensus to form that Laporte and Stones were selected due to their superior passing ability, making them more resistant to an anticipated Chelsea press that never fully materialised.
Dias is no slouch on the ball, far from it. But his defensive colleagues are two of the finest ball-playing central defenders anywhere in world football.
Laporte has the highest pass completion rate of any player in the Premier League this season at 95% ( as per FBref ), but he has still made 100 progressive passes - classed as balls that move possession forward at least 10 metres or into the opposition penalty area.
Among central defenders in England’s top flight, only Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger (104) has made more, while teammate Joao Cancelo is the only player in the division (178) to have made more than Laporte’s 155 passes into the final third.
But Laporte and Stones’ quality in possession means their adeptness when it comes to the defensive arts is often overlooked. At the weekend, they won all nine of the aerial duels they contested.
Such traditional centre-back tasks are generally viewed as a major strength for Dias, but the Portugal international has fallen from his immaculate 2020/21 standards this term.
Dias transformed a rickety City back four last season and won 60 aerial duels in 32 appearances, losing 28 for a success rate of 68.2%. This time around, that has dropped to 51.7%, with him winning 31 and losing 29 in 20 games - the latter figure already more than he absorbed during the entirety of the most recent title-winning campaign.
It is important not to view these returns completely in isolation. Laporte has been Dias’ regular partner this season, breaking up the alliance he enjoyed alongside Stones.
In tandem with the ‘Barnsley Beckenbauer’, Dias typically played on the left-hand side of the centre-back pairing. This time around, the left-footed Laporte means he resides on the right. Although the change hasn’t appeared to hugely hinder Dias, it does mean defending different angles of attack and a shift in defensive responsibilities from game to game.
Also, the fairly bereft Lukaku played his part in Laporte and Stones padding their aerial stats. Dias has faced centre-forwards who are not in the midst of public rows with their manager and might therefore have a little more stomach for the physical battle.
But the notion that Stones and Laporte play for their skills on the ball, whereas Dias plays for his defensive prowess does appear to be overly simplistic.
Whatever Guardiola factors into his centre-back calculations over the coming weeks, these are very nice selection problems to have.
Who do you think are the best centre-back pairing at Manchester City right now? Follow City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
