Manchester City have lost five matches in a row and, frankly, it could get worse before it gets better.
They are at home against Feyenoord in the Champions League in midweek, which is a presentable opportunity to put an end to the run and show that life is not all bad, although next Sunday’s visit to Liverpool does not seem to hold out much hope at the moment.
Following the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola talked about little issues from the start of the season that have got worse and worse as the weeks have passed.
Of course, many of their problems are rooted in an injury crisis that includes the Ballon d’Or-bound Rodri being lost for the rest of the season in September and having Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish unavailable at crucial moments.
In many ways, City’s problems are as simple as that, but they are clearly struggling to win duels and loose balls in the way they have been doing for years and they have been exposed on the break as a result, and while the return of first-choice defenders from injury will be a big help, they may need to sign a midfielder in January for some extra muscle in the middle of the pitch.
Between the injuries and some star names who have not been performing, this is how things have fallen apart for City so far and, in some cases, how they can be put back together.
1. Oscar Bobb’s pre-season injury
It is easy to go back now and look at every little factor and throw it all into one big stew but it is fair to say the season did not get off to the best start as Bobb got injured before it had actually begun. He was, as Guardiola has said recently, their best player during a disrupted pre-season — with many of their players having been involved in national-team tournaments this summer, they needed all the rhythm they could get — and on Friday the manager outlined the qualities Bobb brings to the team. “You know how is our high pressing with Oscar?,” he asked, and discussed his dribbling. It is not as if the loss of a 21-year-old who had not yet fully broken into the team can be put down as a major reason, but they do have one of those…
2. Rodri and the absence of the ‘best player in the world’
Well, what can you say? “People talk about ‘without Rodri’, and of course we miss him — he is the best player in the world,” Guardiola says. The loss is obvious, really, but where it is most relevant is what is left behind: Rodri is obviously the best at what he does but City do not have anyone like him in the squad in a particular defensive sense. The midfield without him has looked slow and weak on many occasions, and Spurs’ third goal last night was a fine example of that. City have not been winning second balls and duels, and they cannot cover the ground afterwards. There is not another player like Rodri in the world, but even if they get all of their other injured players back soon, they are probably going to need somebody who is stronger in the duels and better at covering ground unless there are major improvements from those already at the club…
3. The cost of re-signing Ilkay Gundogan
A double issue here, because while the football world thought it was a no-brainer to bring the former captain back following his season with Barcelona, he has struggled and at age 34 looks as vulnerable as anybody in the middle. The other issue is that his return dissuaded Guardiola and the club from pursuing other targets in the summer, because with him (at his best) in midfield, City had plenty of options and an extra player who could be a false nine and replace Erling Haaland (and the now-departed Julian Alvarez) up front.
4. Haaland’s not really scoring — and neither is anyone else
Haaland looked like he was ready to rip up the record books again at the start of the season, scoring 10 of City’s first 13 league goals. That is a run which ended the day Rodri got injured, incidentally, and while we were all marvelling at the Norwegian’s exploits, it went under the radar that nobody else in a City shirt was really scoring. A big problem now is that Haaland is not really scoring either. If he gets back to his early-season form, then things will look much better even without a midfield patch-up, but if not City will be relying on others to, again, make a big step forward. Gundogan was always good for a goal but has not been since returning from Barca, the wingers are not really prolific even when fit and firing, and Phil Foden had a quiet start to the season which is gradually picking up.
5. Foden’s decisiveness
After being voted Player of the Year by his fellow Professional Footballers’ Association members last season, Foden had a difficult European Championship (he largely performed as well as England’s other creative midfielders but did not score the clutch goals they did) and then missed several matches at the start of the season, with Guardiola since insisting that when he is in a good frame of mind he is at his best. Foden has been one of City’s better players of late and has been good overall since his return to the side but it is evident that he has not been as decisive as he was last season, and at a time when City are lacking in goals that is always going to be missed.
6. De Bruyne’s hamstring
Another injury, and one that is still being felt around 10 weeks after it happened. “A car, when it goes to have something replaced, is not the same car,” Guardiola said a few weeks ago, not discussing that injury but the hamstring surgery which kept De Bruyne out for a lot of last season. He has been gradually returning from that setback in September. So gradually in fact that Saturday’s 14 minutes were the most he has played since then. Another obvious loss, although another obvious area for large improvement.
7. The Mateo Kovacic gap
The Croatian sums up the difficulty of the situation without Rodri. He is very good in small spaces, accomplished on the ball, great under pressure and wins a lot of loose balls… but the gaps between his level and Rodri’s do get exposed by opposing teams, who can still work their way around him on a couple of occasions, or pick off his passes, which are a little more risky than the Spaniard’s. A very good player but still not the one to replace Rodri, highlighting how difficult it could be to bring in a new midfielder in January — and even so, he is now out for three to four weeks as well.
8. Grealish’s brief comeback
This was billed as the big Grealish comeback season after his struggles in the previous one and his subsequent omission from England’s Euros squad — he was one of the few senior players to participate in pre-season and he was shaping up nicely for the campaign ahead. But he picked up an injury at the end of October and is another only just now coming back into the fold. Given he only had a bit-part role last season, Grealish’s current absence cannot be considered a major factor but when he plays at his best, City generally look more solid, and if he can get back on the pitch consistently it will be a big boost for them — although if he doesn’t, there might have to be a conversation about his future next summer.
9. Kyle Walker’s England injury
As Guardiola explained on Friday, there were knock-on effects of the knee injury Walker picked up on England duty in October. The manager already had a bee in his bonnet about Walker and Stones coming back injured from England’s matches in March and he has railed about it recently. Essentially, without Walker there was a bit less wiggle room for rotation in the back line and that bit City in one particular game…
10. Spurs away
This losing streak started at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, a game City were happy to sacrifice given their mounting injury list. But matters were made worse given several defenders played that night and picked up knocks and actual injuries, with Ake, Akanji and Dias basically getting run into the ground from that point onwards, ending with them missing the matches before the November international break.
11. Stones’ fitness problems
“Rodri is out, but also four central defenders,” Guardiola said last week. “You know how important Ruben is? And John, when he is fit? Tell me. And Nathan and the other ones?” Exactly as Guardiola says, Stones is incredibly important to City when he is fit, but he often is not. In recent years, others have been able to step up, but so far there have been important injuries in the defence, too. Dias has often been the one to tie things together but he is still out, at a time when Ake and Akanji are coming back from their own injury problems and, to some extent, playing through them. Again, if that situation stabilises, it is going to be a big plus.
12. Bournemouth and Brighton
“Bournemouth play one game a week, Brighton play one game a week,” Guardiola said Friday of the sides to beat City in their two previous Premier League matches. “Six or seven days to prepare one game. Give me that! Gimme gimme! Give me that.” He was at pains to point out that he was not complaining, because it has been that way for years and City have won six titles under him anyway, and nor is it being used as an excuse here. City just looked tired in those games, with the injuries mounting, and both opponents picked them off. Bournemouth were the better side for 80 minutes and deserved the win. Walker played that day but looked, frankly, awful, with Guardiola explaining that he had hardly trained. City were very good at Brighton but missed chances when leading 1-0 and then could not keep up in the second half.
13. And Sporting
That was exactly what happened to them in the Champions League between those two league defeats. City seemed to have overcome their struggles and were knocking the ball around well and creating chances in Lisbon — but they missed them, and then they were, you guessed it, caught out on the counter-attack and ended up looking as ragged as they did against Spurs yesterday.
14. The Rico Lewis conundrum
Kind of a conundrum, but perhaps the way that he looks great when City are in control but poor when they are struggling is just the kind of player that he is. It is not that Lewis cannot put himself about in fast, physical games, because he has done so, but Guardiola cherishes his presence in midfield because of his ability to keep the ball, and often when City lose possession he is unable to win it back or keep up with the subsequent counter-attacks. Could easily feature in another City run to the title but the team surely need more legs in midfield and that is probably only going to come via the transfer market in January.
15. Matheus Nunes’ short resurgence
Unfortunately for Nunes, his second-season resurgence as a City player came at a time when everything else was falling down. Given the injury situation, he has played on the left wing and done pretty well. Almost inevitably, though, as soon as a few players were back fit on Saturday, he was on the bench again, and it seems unlikely he will get a serious run in midfield. He has more energy than most players who can play deep in the City midfield but he does not take care of the ball as well as, in theory, Gundogan, Lewis and Bernardo Silva, which probably means Guardiola is not going to favour him, even if he has the legs to get back in defence. Will be interesting to see if and where he gets used in the coming weeks, considering he has done well enough of late.
16. Savinho’s lack of threat
Like Doku, Savinho is thrilling outside the box but regularly wasteful inside it, and his goal threat was painfully lacking on Saturday. Overall, given it is his first season at City, he is playing well, like Doku did last year, and he is very good defensively. If anything, he is on track for a good City career and, again, he could easily be highlighted as a standout player by the end of the season but, because of their struggles, they just need more.
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
