Kompany and Fernandinho have ‘no ill feeling after bust-up

Captain and midfielder were dropped for Leicester City match

Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho hold no lingering ill-feeling from their half-time disagreement during Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on 1 March and Manuel Pellegrini views the incident as a normal show of passion between players desperate to win.

Kompany was dropped for the champions’ next game, last Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Leicester City, when the captain was an unused substitute. While Fernandinho was not in the squad for the match, neither player was left out because of their argument, according to sources at the club.

Kompany was at fault for Liverpool’s first goal, the central defender missing a tackle which allowed Philippe Coutinho to take the ball and launch the attack from which Jordan Henderson scored after 11 minutes. Although Kompany has made mistakes in previous seasons, he is enduring the poorest campaign of his City career since being signed in 2008. In January’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, the 28-year-old lost possession when dribbling upfield. As the Gunners launched an attack Kompany rushed back into the area to try to make amends but compounded his mistake to conceding a penalty Santi Cazorla converted.

This followed other mistakes and uneven displays this term. In City’s 1-1 draw with Roma in their opening home Champions League group match in September the Belgian allowed space for Francesco Totti to score the Italian club’s equaliser. Kompany was then part of a slipshod defensive performance in City’s 2-2 draw at CSKA Moscow the following month.

Kompany’s removal from the starting XI for Leicester’s visit was the first time he had been left out because of form in seven years at the club. Asked last week why the decision had been taken, Pellegrini said: “For the same reason that Pablo Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko weren’t playing. I think it was important to refresh the team mentally and physically after two difficult games. We have the squad we want so it was a good moment to refresh the team.”

While the Chilean claimed Kompany had accepted the decision “without any problems” he refused to be drawn on whether the defender will be reinstated for Saturday’s trip to Turf Moor to play Burnley in the late kick-off.

Despite City’s patchy championship defence – they trail Chelsea by five points, the west London club having played a match less – David Silva is enjoying a fine personal campaign, his 10 goals already a best return from the playmaker.

Frank Lampard, who spent 13 years at Chelsea before joining City, believes Silva to be among the very finest footballers he has played with. “I’d put him in the top bracket of the best players I’ve played with in my career,” the midfielder said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play alongside players like Gianfranco Zola, Arjen Robben and Eden Hazard among others and he’s completely up there with the best.

“From the moment I arrived and started training with him in pre-season I could better appreciate his weight of pass, movement, and his touch and he could play in any team in the world. It’s been a pleasure to play and train alongside him or even just to watch him. The way he holds himself, too, impresses me because he’s one of the most humble top players I’ve ever come across - that’s something I love because it’s refreshing to see.

“To be at the top of your game, have all the medals he has and do what he does week in, week out and yet it’s still like he’s just coming in, doing his day job and going home.”


Jamie Jackson / Guardian