Sergio Aguero Injured

[Dave]

Sergio Aguero is almost certainly out of Manchester City's crucial Champions League match with Roma after injuring knee ligaments against Everton.

The Argentine, 26, was injured in a challenge with Muhamed Besic in the third minute of Saturday's match and left the pitch in tears.

City must win Wednesday's game in Rome to have any chance of reaching the last 16 and Aguero's absence is a big blow.

"Probably he'll miss the game. It is a big problem," Manuel Pellegrini said.

"It is very difficult when you have trouble with your ligament to recover in three days."

Aguero, the Premier League's top scorer with 14 goals, is set to learn the extent of the damage on Sunday, with manager Pellegrini refusing to speculate on how long he may face on the sidelines before then.

This is a shame.

When you consider that the only reason Manchester City beat Everton yesterday was because of a soft penalty, they really need world class talents like Sergio Aguero to be available in the Champions League. Especially when they are going up against a strong opposition and that the match will decide if they qualify for the later stages of the tournament. What a tremendous loss for City

That said, it might not be as bad as I first thought. Pellegrini seems content in the knowledge that he wont be out for too long. If they thought is was very serious, there is absolutely no way they would be talking about being out for 3 days, it would be more like 3 months. And with Chelsea slipping up against Newcastle and City getting the tight win against Everton, they find themselves only 3 points behind the league leaders. At this point in the season, you need your best players to stay fit and having your top goal scorer shelved for months will all but mean that City cannot compete.

 

[L@RISANO]

IF he is out for around a month as it seems he might miss the period before Christmas, then perhaps, City have a chance in the Prem given a relatively easy schedule in that period.

However, he is definitely going to miss this round of do-or-die UCL games. Roma await, and Aguero will definitely be a huge loss given his last performance in the competition.


IF however, the damage is more severe, then City will be reeling as Aguero has been their Major threat, with Silva out and Yaya still coming into his own as time goes on.
City really will need to bring in another top player in the summer, given how much time Aguero does seem to generally spend out injured.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I'm a Man United fan but there was something deeply upsetting about seeing Aguero in tears as he got to his feet and spoke to the medical trainer. Given how rough the past 12-18 months have been with various injuries for Aguero, you could tell that he doesn't think it will be a brief lay-off and I would be incredibly surprised if he is back before 2015.

Aguero has put United to the sword several times but he is a very honest and hard-working player that is just a phenomenal striker.

Injuries will of course affect all teams this season but the amount of high profile injuries this season has set us up with an intriguing sub-text to the season; Sterling's request to be rested for England + Sturridge's injury with England and the effect that has had on Liverpool.
Giroud, Ozil, Walcott and Debuchy either missed the start of the season or were injured early on for Arsenal which have all been big misses and added further pressure on Wenger for not strengthening the squad further in the summer.
Costa's on-again off-again problems with his hamstrings for club and country. This hasn't been as big of an issue so far but I doubt this won't be a problem again in the new year.
Man United have had over 40 separate injury problems since Van Gaal took over in July, which has played havok with an already depleted defence, as well as affecting the balance of the rest of the team.

Ideally, it would be brilliant to see all teams constantly put out their strongest teams and truly see who is the best. This is a squad game though and the club with the best 25, rather than the best 11, will be the ones who deserve the title.

 

[Dave]

I'm a Man United fan but there was something deeply upsetting about seeing Aguero in tears as he got to his feet and spoke to the medical trainer. Given how rough the past 12-18 months have been with various injuries for Aguero, you could tell that he doesn't think it will be a brief lay-off and I would be incredibly surprised if he is back before 2015.

Aguero has put United to the sword several times but he is a very honest and hard-working player that is just a phenomenal striker.

Injuries will of course affect all teams this season but the amount of high profile injuries this season has set us up with an intriguing sub-text to the season; Sterling's request to be rested for England + Sturridge's injury with England and the effect that has had on Liverpool.
Giroud, Ozil, Walcott and Debuchy either missed the start of the season or were injured early on for Arsenal which have all been big misses and added further pressure on Wenger for not strengthening the squad further in the summer.
Costa's on-again off-again problems with his hamstrings for club and country. This hasn't been as big of an issue so far but I doubt this won't be a problem again in the new year.
Man United have had over 40 separate injury problems since Van Gaal took over in July, which has played havok with an already depleted defence, as well as affecting the balance of the rest of the team.

Ideally, it would be brilliant to see all teams constantly put out their strongest teams and truly see who is the best. This is a squad game though and the club with the best 25, rather than the best 11, will be the ones who deserve the title.

Man United's injuries can now be categorised as a crisis, I think. I can't even think of a time this season when Man United have been able to put out a first team and confidently say “This is the best we have”. You look at people like Van Persie, Falcao, Rooney and Blind being out for extended periods of time and you begin to question how good Man United could be if they were all firing on all cylinders. And now it looks as though Angel Di Maria is going to be out for a while? That sucks. If Man United can do a little bit of strengthening in the January window, what's to stop them claiming a Champions League place? Nothing. Go out and buy a few defenders and you could be onto something.

But the difference between City and United this season has been Sergio Aguero. And more to the point, a striker that they can whole-heartedly rely on to keep banging in goals. Van Persie and Rooney haven't been up to their same standards recently and Falcao hasn't really brought it just yet. Sergio Aguero is as trust-worthy a striker as you are very likely to see in the Premier League and his loss to Man City is pretty much incalculable.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Man United's injuries can now be categorised as a crisis, I think. I can't even think of a time this season when Man United have been able to put out a first team and confidently say “This is the best we have”. You look at people like Van Persie, Falcao, Rooney and Blind being out for extended periods of time and you begin to question how good Man United could be if they were all firing on all cylinders. And now it looks as though Angel Di Maria is going to be out for a while? That sucks. If Man United can do a little bit of strengthening in the January window, what's to stop them claiming a Champions League place? Nothing. Go out and buy a few defenders and you could be onto something.

But the difference between City and United this season has been Sergio Aguero. And more to the point, a striker that they can whole-heartedly rely on to keep banging in goals. Van Persie and Rooney haven't been up to their same standards recently and Falcao hasn't really brought it just yet. Sergio Aguero is as trust-worthy a striker as you are very likely to see in the Premier League and his loss to Man City is pretty much incalculable.

I think the issue they will have will be the fact that everyone and their granny knows that United desperately need defenders and are going to jack up their prices by an extra 5-10 million. Ed Woodward's declaration in the summer that they weren't afraid to spunk cash (though he put it more eloquently) is likely to be a continual obstacle over the next 2 transfer windows.

However, their defensive deficiencies have led to appearances for youngsters Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair, with McNair showing some promising signs against Everton in particular.

Totally agree about United's strike-force. If reputation were enough then United would be scoring double-digits every other game. Van Persie just hasn't looked right since the start of last season, Rooney is dropping deep for the team but has rarely started as an out-and-out striker this year. Falcao is an interesting one in that he is coming back from a brutal injury and is under pressure to deliver in a single season in a league he has never played in before. A single goal isn't the return we dreamt of but he has shown moments of great team-play and individual drive, especially in the game against West Brom where he had several driving runs at the heart of their defence that caused them uncertainty. He needs starts but with the rotation the club are having to make, it isn't the kind of rash decision that Van Gaal seems ready to make.

What impresses me about Aguero is that even when the team behind him are playing poorly, he needs few opportunities to actually put the ball in the net - see QPR away and Bayern Munich home. While other strikers would sulk or start throwing themselves around the park, Aguero seems to just know a chance will come along and has complete belief in his ability. Once his injury problems start to lessen, he could rival Messi and Ronaldo's goal returns per season.

 

[MCMG]

I love Ageuro. He is arguably the best player in the league so it is a shame he is injured. Moreover, I would much rather see City win the league than Chelsea.

They could probably cope for a few games but if this is long-term they are in trouble. Aguero has an awful injury record but if he stays fit then City do well, simple. Indeed, I told a mate, if Aguero plays 50 games this season it's probably a bad thing for City because he'll be on the first plane to Madrid.

Dzeko and Jovetic are fine replacements. Plus the ability to move Toure up the park means they do have options. Maybe not as lethal and/or consistent but options nonetheless. The Roma game might be difficult but they can still win the game without him. Looking at their fixtures; Arsenal and Chelsea at the end of January is massive, hence, the importance of getting him fit.

FFP obviously hit them and the injury to Silva doesn't help. Being over-reliant on one player can be disastrous so if City can get do well without him then it will be reassuring. Of course, they will need players like Nasri, Navas and Jovetic to really up their games.

 

[CyberPunk]

As a CityZen, I was devastated when this happened. As of now, he's not playing against Roma, which is a very crucial tie for City for them to advance to the next stage of Champion's League. Moreover, Aguero has been their main force on the front lines for a long time. Jovetic is out and Dzeko hasn't seemed all that threatening this season. Toure also picked up a slight niggle but I don't think that was anything serious.

And when you see MCFC without Aguero, it just doesn't seem like they can score. So his loss for any period of time is a huge one.