How Many More?! - Guardiola Demands Get The Best Out Of Aguero
It's 11 goals in six games for Aguero now and there is no sign of the run coming to an end any time soon. And, while he keeps finding the back of the net, City are likely to keep winning: it's now 10 wins in 10 for Guardiola's men.
The Catalan has been keen to point out on a number of occasions this season that he wants more defensive work rate from Aguero.
"I want more," he said this week. "I’m so happy with Sergio, so, so happy, but I want more, I want more. He can do better. He can do better.”
He does not want the striker to hare around the pitch - "four, five, six seconds of effort" is what's required - but he has said it so often it is clear that the City boss does not want Aguero, so long City's main man, to rest on his laurels.
And he most certainly is not. He scored a Champions League hat-trick during his three-game domestic suspension and he returned to Premier League action here with a double.
His first arrived after just nine minutes and required just two touches. He controlled Bacary Sagna's cross with a wonderful cushioned take, before using the resulting space to fire past Lukasz Fabianski.
City did not have it all their own way in South Wales and Fernando Llorente hammered home an equaliser shortly afterwards. This was the type of game Guardiola would've been warned about: a stubborn home side that can attack on the floor and in the air, backed by a raucous crowd.
The visitors did not look as comfortable as they have in most games of late but they did keep creating chances. Strangely, they were off colour, with Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling mis-hitting two very presentable opportunities.
Aguero, as ever, was the man for the job. Referee Neil Swarbrick struggled to control the game all afternoon and awarded City a penalty when Mike van der Hoorn's elbow collided with De Bruyne in the box.
Despite the din created by the incensed home support inside the Liberty Stadium, Aguero kept his nerve, stalled his run up and dinked Fabianski. He missed two penalties in Bucharest six weeks ago but he clearly did not doubt himself at this crucial point in the match.
After that Swansea were so scared of Aguero they tried to stop Sterling setting up him for a third hat-trick of the season following a fast breakaway. Fortunately for City, Sterling found the composure which earlier deserted him to add the third himself.
It was a goal as impudent as his second against West Ham at the end of August: he stood up Kyle Naughton, dummied to go towards Aguero, went the other way and rolled the ball in at the near post.
That killed off Swansea for good but once again it was Aguero's goals that did the damage. It was the same at Stoke earlier this season, the last time City really struggled in a game. The Argentine got a double that day to set his side up for three points, before Nolito came on to add a late brace of his own.
It looked as if City had got over those early struggles of late but they proved today that they can still come up with the answers when they don't have it all their own way.
There have been times in the last five years when it seemed Aguero was getting City through matches by himself. He has raced to 100 Premier League goals, scoring plenty even in City's poorest seasons. He got 24 league goals last season even as Manuel Pellegrini's side finished fourth.
The Blues, of course, have never been a one-man team and they most certainly are not now, not with Guardiola holed up at the training ground working 12-hour days to get every last drop out of his squad.
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