QPR midfielder Joey Barton reckons that Manchester City have seen Vincent Kompany struggle for form largely because it does not appear that the Belgian defender is at the peak of his fitness.Kompany was signed for less than £ 10 million back in 2008, but he has become the captain of the club after some exceptional performances over the last two years.
He has widely been rated as the best defender in world football because of his dominating presence, but it has gone off the boil of late.Kompany has been struggling so much for form that manager Manuel Pellegrini recently dropped him for a match against Leicester City.
Barton, who was recently suspended after getting into an altercation with Tom Huddlestone, says that the stop and start season that Kompany has been experiencing could be a reason behind the poor form. It is difficult to build on fitness, once it has been lost after an injury, in the middle of the campaign according to Barton. SinceKompany must not have had enough time to spend in the gym, it has affected his fitness levels. The Belgian was recently culpable for making high profile mistakes in the matches against Barcelona and Liverpool. His presence in the team is temporarily being challenged.
“Players go through peaks and troughs in terms of form – Kompany was execeptional last season when City won the league and was being touted as the best defender in Europe.But a few weeks back, before City had a bit of a wobble, a couple of things happened in games – like in and he just looked really top-heavy. I don’t know whether the period he had out injured has meant he’s gone in the gym and done more weights and more weights, and the top of his body has got more defined than the bottom,” said Barton.
