Owen Hargreaves has told Pep Guardiola that getting the balance right in midfield is crucial to solving Manchester City's struggles in front of goal.
City have had a largely inconsistent start to the season and currently find themselves in the lowly position of 13th, already eight points behind champions Liverpool.
While only five sides have conceded less than the Blues, the other end of the pitch appears to be the problem as they have only scored 10 times so far - less than Brighton, Leeds, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Aston Villa, Southampton and the same as Newcastle.
Hargreaves believes that, while losing Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero to injury at varying points hasn't helped, the real cause of the issue is the balance in midfield after the club lost David Silva and Leroy Sane this summer.
“I think missing Sergio Aguero is a pretty big one, but if you look at the same stage last season, they scored 27, and only 10 right now," he said on BT Sport.
"That’s a huge jump. It’s not like City, because defensively they’ve improved and are now one of the better teams in the division.
"They’re creating chances, but don’t seem to be as clinical, you can see that shot conversion - that’s way down. Aguero could improve that pretty much on his own, but think of Sane - he’s gone - David Silva - he’s gone. There’s a lot of pieces that are different.
"They’ve had a lot of injuries, and Covid, I think they’ve had about 14 players out at different points at the start of the season. If everyone gets back, we’re gonna see City right in the mix again. Those numbers are gonna go from where they are to being with the best.”
"Pep has sorted the defence out, in a way, outside of the left-back position. Maybe now, get the balance in midfield and then City can be back flying again.”
Aguero has managed to play just three times this season as he's struggled with injury but Hargreaves believes that City will be fine if the Argentine can get back to full fitness and join the 'sharp' Jesus.
He added: “It’s hard, because Sergio is just Sergio - he’s so unique. But I love Jesus, I think he’s a really unique player. I think he’s probably the best reserve centre-forward in the world, really, and he probably gets in everyone else’s team, but Aguero is one of the greats.
"I think it’s a big blow that they’ve missed both of them. But since he (Jesus) has come back, he’s looked really sharp. If Sergio comes back and they can get the pieces back, then they’ll be fine."
