Manchester City defender Ruben Dias spoke to the Manchester Evening News about a difficult season ahead of the FA Cup Final
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LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 27: Ruben Dias of Manchester City during the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 27: Ruben Dias of Manchester City during the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Ruben Dias
Ruben Dias believes that Manchester City are close to being 'very dangerous' again as he blasted how critics had written off the squad. Pep Guardiola's side suffered a poor season that saw their Premier League and Champions League hopes ended months ago, yet could still add to the FA Cup to their trophy cabinet on Saturday.
That is not the biggest prize City are chasing as they look to confirm a top-five place in the league that will guarantee Champions League football for next season, while the bounties and glamour of the Club World Cup await in the United States next month.
However, beating Crystal Palace at Wembley this weekend would be more signs of a City squad that is still able to challenge for major trophies.
A major injury crisis that began at the end of October started an unbelievable slide in results for the Blues, and they lost 15 of 30 games in all competitions stretching into March - as many defeats in four months as they had suffered in three years before then.
Pep Guardiola admitted that the squad needed more players to be able to cope, and four first-team players were bought in the January window for around £170m.
That appeared to signal the movement from one group of City players to the next, and the performances and results have undeniably improved. City head into their Wembley final on a run of seven wins and three draws from their last 10 games.
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However, Guardiola has instead put most of his faith in the same players who were written off earlier in the season. Of the four January signings, only Omar Marmoush has started the majority (eight) of the last 10 games with Nico Gonzalez (four), Abdukodir Khusanov (two) and Vitor Reis (none) all being made to wait to be integrated into the team.
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Mateo Kovacic was the man-of-the-match in the FA Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest in a game where Rico Lewis scored the opening goal. Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan have also featured heavily in the unbeaten run and their performances have improved as the team has been more stable around them.
Guardiola has stated that he will always be thankful for the efforts of the players who never hid while the team was struggling so badly, and Dias thinks they have shown their enduring quality. If there are still doubts about some players in the squad, they are not found in the dressing room.
"There was a lot of talking and very little reasoning behind most of the comments. People love to go crazy and they very easily forget about the whole process and everything that was done," Dias told the Manchester Evening News.
"I'm not saying this as in not looking to the future because you must, but you also have to acknowledge that some players playing at the time were dealing with loads of injuries around them and had to play parts in which they were not even specific to certain positions.
"They gave tremendous effort and we all as City fans and everyone at the club should be grateful for those efforts. 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."
City take on a Palace side that will fancy their chances after a strong season under Oliver Glasner. They battered Aston Villa 3-0 to reach their third FA Cup Final and were 2-0 up at the Etihad last month before Kevin De Bruyne inspired a City comeback.
The number of games City have lost has exposed weaknesses in their team that can be attacked, but - Southampton aside - if opponents are more willing to come forward against the Blues that does open up more space on the pitch that Guardiola's side can relish.
As chastening a season as it has been, with the injury list shrinking for the first time since autumn confidence is returning as more silverware opportunities come into view. City have not turned their noses up at any competition and would love to win the FA Cup again as they continue to rebuild.
"I don't feel vulnerable. All we do is play and think about a game at a time and naturally things come to us for the way we work and the way we build our game," said Dias.
"It's a final, it's the next game and the one we want to win.
"It's a massive one, even more after the season we've had, to be in this final stage and have the opportunity to lift the trophy. We know how good it feels to win the FA Cup and we know what it means to everyone so it's a big one for us.
"It's our third final in a row so that is already quite a big achievement. It's a competition that means a lot to us. We've been defined by the Premier Leagues but I feel we've been defined by all of it - all the things we've got our hands on - for the way we played and everything counts in the end.
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"We are in a tough fight to qualify for the top five, we can still be second and we have this FA Cup to fight for. The FA Cup is a major one for us so we really want to win it.
"It's a lovely sight having everyone available. And when everyone is available, the conversation changes a lot and we get very dangerous."