5 issues Guardiola needs to urgently fix at Manchester City

#1 Find a way to play without Fernandinho

Fernandinho's absence has caused problems for Guardiola

Such was the excellence of Manchester City's collective last season that it was difficult to pick the best player. De Bruyne, David Silva, Aguero, Sterling, Ederson, Otamendi, Walker were among the players who were on top of their game last season.

However, eagle-eyed watchers noted just how important Fernandinho was to the team as well. The Brazilian international played the defensive midfielder role to perfection last season. He shielded the backline, made last-minute interventions, started attacks and allowed the more creative players the freedom to perform.

Given his age (he turned 33 in May), a lot of people thought signing another defensive midfielder would have been a priority for Guardiola. To be fair, he did try, with the failed pursuits of Jorginho and Fred.

However, no midfielder was signed in the summer transfer window. That mistake has had severe repercussions. Fernandinho has missed the last two games which have resulted in damaging losses for the team. While Ilkay Gundogan has many qualities, being sound defensively isn't one of them.

Stones was tried in midfield against Crystal Palace and had a poor game. However, with Fernandinho still out, it makes more sense for the England international to occupy that role for now.