At this stage, you could probably forgive Manchester City’s supporters if they did not want to be reminded about the last time their team endured such a long and wobbly streak of bad results.
It has been 18 years and, to put that into context, that goes back to the era when Sir Alex Ferguson wondered whether the City of Manchester Stadium, as the Etihad used to be known, ought to be renamed “the Temple of Doom”.
Stuart Pearce was City’s manager during a run of nine defeats in 10 games late into the 2005-06 season. They were on their way to a 15th-placed finish and the big signing in the January transfer window was Georgios Samaras, a Greece international striker who arrived from Dutch club Heerenveen. Samaras’ career in Manchester started reasonably well but finished with him failing to score in 29 of his final 30 Premier League games, earning the rather unfortunate nickname of (Greek) “Tragedy”.
Against that kind of backdrop, perhaps it is slightly easier for older supporters to handle what is happening now the modern-day City look so vulnerable.
It is the club’s younger fans for whom all this is new. Everything has unravelled so quickly and, if Pep Guardiola was upset by the mocking chants of “sacked in the morning” from Liverpool’s crowd on Sunday, it was probably a mistake to show it. By contrast, some Liverpool players were surprised at how relaxed City’s squad seemed as the game unfolded: some even laughed and joked with home players on the field while they trailed 2-0.
Yes, Guardiola might have been smiling as he held up six fingers to remind Anfield how many league championships he has won in England. But it was the kind of smile that people wear when they have just had a snowball chucked in their face and are trying to pretend everything is OK. Just consider how many other sets of supporters, football being the sport of schadenfreude, will be trying to get another reaction out of Guardiola between now and the end of the season. That chant could be the soundtrack to his campaign now City are 11 points off the leaders and, barring something implausible, out of the title race with only 13 games played.
Whatever happens next, Guardiola isn’t going to be sacked, even if he sometimes brings up the notion himself. And the fans are trying their best to remain upbeat judging by the beery chants of “City’s lost five in a row”, to the tune of Status Quo’s Rockin’ All Over the World, which could be heard last week in Mary D’s, the nearest pub to their stadium.
But the indignities stack up and, even before we analyse the reasons why it has reached this stage, there are certain details that the club, presumably, would not wish to include in one of its fly-on-the-wall documentaries.
One day last week, a selection of first-team players took part in a nine-versus-nine training exercise alongside a group of teenagers from the club’s elite development squad (EDS)… and it was the youngsters who stole the show.
There was, if we are being generous, a bit of mitigation. Some of the senior players had been involved in the 3-3 draw against Feyenoord the previous night, so were hardly going hell for leather. Their mood was subdued, as you might expect for a team that had squandered a three-goal lead to Feyenoord, lost 4-0 at home to Spurs and 4-1 in Lisbon to Sporting CP.
And, if we are going to be really generous, City have some talented kids coming through the EDS system. Nonetheless, it was not a good look for some of the multi-millionaires, European Cup winners and serial Premier League champions involved.
What is increasingly clear is that City will need to act decisively next summer. As often happens with great title-winning sides, they may have been guilty of waiting too long to ease out some of the players who have been important to their success.
The relevant people in City’s boardroom are acutely aware there have to be some head-over-heart decisions and this could conceivably include some of the A-listers — Ederson, Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish — who have been fundamental to the happiest times of the Guardiola era.
At the top of the club, they are also conscious they may have made a mistake by identifying 2025 as the time for a rebuild rather than doing more last summer to accelerate the process. Walker, in particular, is identified as a player who should have been phased out earlier.
Yet one of the reasons why City wanted to wait until 2025 was Guardiola himself. The coach made it clear earlier this year that he wanted the club to be run sustainably and did not want to push them into spending massive amounts on the back of their fourth successive Premier League title, especially as he went into the summer in the final 12 months of his contract and could not be absolutely sure he would be staying longer.
That decision has backfired on City, and Guardiola himself, since the injuries started piling up and key players lost form. The reality, though, is that it is very easy to be wise after the event and the same applies to City’s sale of Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia and one or two others. It looks questionable now (Palmer, in particular) but, in fairness to Guardiola, how many people were willing to challenge his decision-making at the time?
Who could have known, as just one example, that Phil Foden would not be able to replicate the form that made him the Premier League’s outstanding player last season? Or that Foden’s deterioration would come at the same time that De Bruyne’s injury issues have affected his performances more than ever before?
Who could have predicted that their defence would be so badly affected by injuries that, at the 13-game mark, they had conceded more goals than fourth-from-bottom Crystal Palace? Or that Oscar Bobb, their standout player in pre-season, would break his leg just before their first game of the new campaign?
More than anything, it is difficult not to return to the loss of Rodri in a setback so grievous that, within a day of the Spain international rupturing his knee ligaments, there were high-ranking people within the club confiding that it could destroy their season. City were top of the league at the time, with 13 points out of a possible 15. Yet the club were right to fear the worst: with Rodri, they have won 75.6 per cent of their games since February 2023 and lost only one; without him, the win rate is 57.1 per cent over the same timeframe and there have been 10 defeats in 28 games.
A table of “big chances” tells another story, namely that City have already conceded more this season (with 25 games still to play) than they did throughout four of the six seasons when Guardiola’s sides ensured the ribbons on the championship trophy were light blue.
Behind the scenes, Guardiola and his staff will also pinpoint the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup as another key point in the story of how everything has gone wrong.
- It was October 30 and, at that stage, City had come through another seven games without Rodri’s absence leading to a single defeat. That night, however, all four of City’s centre-halves had injury issues of their own. Manuel Akanji missed the game. Ruben Dias had to be taken off at half-time and was absent for the next month. Nathan Ake was also substituted and John Stones has played only once since, the 4-0 home defeat by Spurs in the league. Three days after going out of the cup, City went to Bournemouth. They lost again and everything has fallen apart since then.
The losing run had stretched to five games by the time Guardiola’s new two-year contract was announced on November 21. “Now is not the time to leave,” he declared, explaining that one of the reasons he had decided to stay on was because he wanted to figure out a way to put it right.
Guardiola has shut himself away at times, as he often does when he wants to reflect and analyse without any outside noise. His phone is turned off, the office door closed — just Pep, completely alone in his thoughts, mulling over a sequence of results that, in all competitions, has stretched to six defeats in the past seven games.
At other times, he has remonstrated with himself for not finding the right words in the dressing room. He regretted that he had been so dramatic with his team talk after the 4-0 loss against Spurs. The following morning, over coffee in his city centre apartment, he reminded himself the players expected the manager to handle difficult moments and took their lead from him.
“Be calm,” Guardiola told himself. How could the players be calm if the manager was not? But the Catalan is no actor and the players could see the anxiety on his face during the 3-3 draw against Feyenoord. So could anyone watching on television: a manager going into the brace position, scratching his face and scalp until it becomes red raw while his team are winning 3-1 is not encouraging for anyone.
And yet, there are no wild stories about huge tensions behind the scenes. On the whole, everything is normal on that front. Guardiola has lost none of his authority and, though he can be demanding and standoffish sometimes, the players understand they are lucky to have him.
Within the club, there is also an understanding that circumstances have gone against the manager in a way that nobody had envisaged. They are glad he is sticking around, not least because he is often the main attraction when prospective new signings are being chased. With Guardiola in charge and money to spend, there is rarely a problem persuading new players to sign.
Some observers might argue that City should have done a better job of finding a suitable understudy for Rodri and, fair enough, perhaps that is legitimate criticism of Txiki Begiristain in his final season as director of football.
At the same time, it tends to ignore the fact that maybe there just isn’t another Rodri out there. Liverpool, for example, have been looking for a category-A player of that description for three seasons. City tried with Kalvin Phillips but it quickly became clear behind the scenes that he was not the player they wanted him to be.
In ordinary circumstances, Akanji is regarded by Guardiola as having the best profile to occupy Rodri’s position. With so many players missing or injured, however, he has had to remain in defence and with Mateo Kovacic missing since early November, that has led to the unsuccessful experiment of a 34-year-old Ilkay Gundogan operating as a holding midfielder.
And so, the Premier League has reached the first week of December with City in fifth position and a lot to contemplate given that all this is being played out at the same time the independent hearing is taking place into their 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s spending rules (City remain convinced, rightly or wrongly, there will not be any sporting sanctions).
There is work to be done and, in the meantime, the whole of English football is rubbernecking in their direction.
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb)
