Exclusive: Rodri Blow Set the Tone for Man City's Struggles, but FA Cup Would Lift the Season says Ex-Boss

Former Manchester City boss Brian Horton is willing the club finish a frustrating season on a high by winning the FA Cup.

The Citizens take on Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday (4.30pm kick-off) knowing victory would provide welcome success - and relief – after a stuttering campaign.

And with two Premier League fixtures left – and two points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea - Pep Guardiola’s side are in the driving seat to secure Champions League qualification for next season.

“People are going to say they’ve not won the Premier League this year, but they’ve won it four times on the spin,” stressed Horton, speaking exclusively to SportsBoom.com. 

“But you can’t keep having that success without making changes."

“They’re in the FA Cup final and they’re still going to quality for the Champions League in the position they are now."

“It’s still not a bad season if they win the cup, but it’s going to be a tough game against Crystal Palace."

“The manager [Oliver Glasner] is doing a great job there and they’ve got some good players."

“It’s not going to be an easy game at all, but it’s a big opportunity for Man City to finish the season strongly."

“They’ve got two games to go now to get in the Champions League, but I think they will.”

TREBLE WINNERS

Former Treble winners City started the season strongly by beating Manchester neighbours United to claim the Community Shield, before going on an impressive 14-game unbeaten run, which included seven Premier League wins during that purple patch.

But a 2-1 League Cup loss away to Tottenham Hotspur proved to be the catalyst for a shock dip in form which saw Guardiola’s usually consistent side win just one of their next 13 games, with four Premier League defeats in a row – the first time that had ever happened during the Spaniard’s spell in charge at the Etihad Stadium.

However, Horton believes the club’s most successful manager deserves some slack after being plagued by a string on injuries to key players this season.

“They’ve had so many injuries this season,” stressed Horton, who managed the club between 1993-1995.

"[John] Stones has been injured [Ruben] Dias, [Manuel] Akanji, [Nathan] Ake, [Jack] Grealish, all of them have been injured."

“And then [Phil] Foden had an illness this season that they didn’t declare, so they’ve been really hampered."

“Oscar Bobb was also injured and [Jeremy] Doku got injured for a little while as well, it’s just been injury after injury."

“Then you had [Erling] Haaland injured as well. You know, no matter what side you are, losing all those quality players during a season is going to take it’s toll."

“At the end of the day, when you’re missing players like they have, it’s not going to be easy."

“[Kyle] Walker has gone on loan, he was another big player for the club.”

"MASSIVE" LOSS

And the loss of talismanic midfielder Rodri, who was sidelined for the entire season with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, was a crushing blow for the club given the Spaniard’s influence on the side and their incredible record of hardly ever losing when he played.

“They’ve lost the best holding midfielder in the world in Rodri,” reflected Horton.

“They lost him for the season, so how do you replace him?"

“I like [Mateo] Kovacic, who has come in to replace him. But can he be a Rodri? No he can’t."

“Rodri is the best player in the world in that position, you can’t replace him."

“What a top player he is, they hardly lost a game when he was playing. You just can’t replace players of that calibre.”