Nathan Ake believes that Manchester City need to find their rhythm after a disappointing loss to Liverpool on Saturday, but he doesn't think that the result is cause for panic.
City fell 3-1 to Jurgen Klopp's side in the Community Shield in Leicester, with Trent Alexander-Arnold opening the scoring for Liverpool via a deflection off Ake. With 20 minutes to play, Julian Alvarez drew City level after coming off the bench, but a Mohamed Salah penalty restored his side's lead before Darwin Nunez finished the Blues off in injury-time.
On balance, Liverpool were the deserved winners as City struggled to play their usual slick, fluid football for much of the afternoon. However, having only played two friendlies before meeting Liverpool, City are still at an early stage in their pre-season preparations, explaining why City looked a little undercooked.
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"Everyone worked hard," Ake said. "It’s still very, very early in the season.
"It’s now about the next few weeks, getting our rhythm and then start to go. I think it was two very good teams so it’s always going to be tough."
While the result was of course disappointing for Ake and his teammates, the City defender felt that there were some positives to take from the outing.
"It’s difficult for us to take. I think there were periods where we played well and periods where they were better. After the 2-1 it became difficult.
"I think to be fair, after 1-1 we played well, before that as well we kept the ball well, created chances and big opportunities.
"After 2-1 it was difficult to come back. They were solid defensively and it’s a difficult game to take."
Ake played the full 90 minutes at the King Power Stadium. And, some occasional wayward distribution aside — which a theme of City's performance — he looked solid and a good bet to start City's Premier League opener at West Ham next Sunday.
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