Bacary Sagna Admits Communication Problems in City Defence

Bacary Sagna says that there have been problems with regard to communication in the Manchester City defence.


Since Pep Guardiola took over in the summer, defence has not been one of the strong points of Manchester City. It has led to the club slipping down from the title race. A goalless draw with Stoke City saw the club all 10 points behind Chelsea having played the same number of games. It is turning out into a disappointing campaign for the club. One of the players expected to depart the Etihad stadium in the summer is Sagna.

He played in the 5-3 win over Monaco in the Champions League. It is a positive result for the team with the view that they have a two-goal advantage over the French club. However, Monaco have given themselves a great chance of producing a comeback in the second leg as a result of scoring two away goals.

Away goals are extremely important in the Champions League, and City have been left disappointed as a result of this result. Sagna claimed that one of the reasons for City conceding three goals was a breakdown in communication in the back four. One of the criticisms of Guardiola has been rotating the squad too much – especially in the defence.

"We conceded three goals so of course I can’t be pleased as a defender but we managed to react, keep going forward and we never gave up.As a defender I am always a bit sad whenever we concede goals – that's the only bad point. We need to remain compact and we need to communicate a bit more.On the pitch everything happens so quickly, and communication is the key. They managed to create some chances because we had a lack of communication we have to improve,” said Sagna.