Ruben Dias interview: ‘There were troubled times, but Man City is a strong house’ | OneFootball

A Cup tie in London was where it started to go wrong for Manchester City this season. A Cup tie in London could cap a comeback of sorts. They started their campaign with greater objectives than competing with Crystal Palace for a trophy. Yet when it spiralled out of control, the prospect of Champions League qualification and silverware would have amounted to a successful salvage job.

The turning point most pinpoint came when Rodri suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Arsenal in September. Yet City were still unbeaten when they ventured to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup on the penultimate day of October, on a run of five straight wins, none of their 14 matches in the campaign ending in defeat.

A second injury had a transformative impact. Dias came off at half-time with a calf problem. He sat out their next four games. City lost each of them, too. He was powerless to halt a sudden slide. “Of course it wasn't easy,” he said. “You want to be involved and participate and help in every way you can and it wasn't a happy experience.”

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City’s defeat at Tottenham was the start of a dismal run (Getty Images)

If injuries to central defenders have been a theme of City’s season, there is a case for arguing Dias’ absence was among the most significant. Their unexpected relapse, from all-conquering to strangely frail, came without talismanic figures in the spine of the team. It was also, Dias, felt, a side-effect of their success.

“It was definitely the consequence of many things,” he said. “One of them was the fact we won four Premier Leagues in a row and nobody has ever done that. Maybe this is the cost: the effort and mental discipline that is essential for the game we play. Look back enough to learn and be better but not look back enough to get dragged into what you shouldn't be dragged into.”

A man who was outspoken in his criticism of Southampton’s defensive tactics when they held City 0-0 on Saturday nevertheless felt some of the interpretations of City’s slide were too harsh, that his teammates were written off too soon.

“There was a lot of talking and very little reasoning behind most of the comments,” he said. “People love to go crazy and they very easily forget about the whole process and everything that was done. They were obviously troubled times for many reasons but you shouldn't doubt each other because of a bad wave. That shows a weak house and we are a strong house. If anyone doubted, maybe they should learn a lesson for the future.”

To borrow Dias’ phrase, City have looked a stronger house since the March international break, winning seven of eight games before being held by Southampton. They have had new foundations, with Josko Gvardiol proving Dias’ latest centre-back partner and one with more staying power than some of his injury-prone predecessors. “Everyone understands Josko's qualities,” Dias said. “He is young, driven, passionate and very ambitious.”

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(The FA via Getty Images)

If there was a shift in personnel in the last couple of months, there was also a different mentality. “Maybe the feeling,” Dias said. “This team is made of a lot of individual quality but it's even more made of this mentality and the feeling among each other that we're there and we're going to do it and be strong together. Whenever that feeling is present, things get easier.”

That analysis was an admission the feeling was gone before then. But then, how did it feel to be City, the team who churned out victories and hoovered up trophies who were suddenly plunged into kind of results that many another side and player could recognise but which felt utterly alien to them?

Now objectives have been altered. “You can either win the Premier League or not win it,” Dias rationalised. “We've won the last four in a row and that was never done before. We are in a tough fight to qualify for the top five. We've been defined by the Premier Leagues but I feel we've been defined by all of it.”

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(Getty)

And the treble of 2023 would have been impossible without the FA Cup. There was an expectation, after the Champions League exit to Real Madrid, that last season would still bring a domestic double. That was upset by Manchester United in the showpiece at Wembley. City, nevertheless, are back for more. “It's our third final in a row so that is already quite a big achievement,” said Dias.

Indeed, City’s feat of reaching seven consecutive semi-finals is a record. So far, though, that means they have had four Wembley defeats in the competition in that time. “We know how good it feels to win the FA Cup,” said Dias. And with City’s house stronger than it was, he hopes Wembley can provide a home from home for them.