Manchester City is going through an unprecedented crisis. And the small revival against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League (3-0, on December 4) has not changed this observation. This was confirmed this Wednesday evening with a new defeat in the Champions League against Juventus (2-0) which sends the English club to 22nd place in the general ranking. With only one victory in its last 10 matches in all competitions including 7 defeats, Pep Guardiola’s team cannot do it and above all cannot find the solution to the numerous problems encountered. This is the worst results crisis the club has gone through since… 2006. At that time, Stuart Pearce was the Cityzens coach.
Among the crazy statistics that illustrate Manchester City’s poor form, Erling Haaland’s teammates have conceded 23 goals in the last 10 games. For comparison, during the treble season (C1, PL, FA Cup) a year and a half ago, Manchester City conceded 43 goals over the entire season. Worse still, Manchester City simply has the worst defense in the 5 major championships since November with 21 goals conceded. No one is doing worse and not even Montpellier, third worst defense in the 5 major championships since the start of the season behind Wolverhampton and Hellas Verona.
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Beyond the numbers, the form of Manchester City worries via the content. The matches follow one another and are similar for the English club. Each time, the team dominates without really being dangerous, each time, the team lacks ideas and tries to take refuge behind a big possession. But what made the club successful a few months ago no longer seems to be working with players who appear quite worn out, like De Bruyne who no longer has his 20-year-old legs. And Pep Guardiola can no longer really hide behind injuries. Of course, Rodri is still missing but for the rest, City can count on the return of managers for a few matches.
The Spanish coach once again appeared very nervous on the sidelines, holding his head with his hands more than once. And his attitude does not really reassure his team as could have been the case in the past. “At the moment we feel like every attack we concede is dangerous. And sometimes I feel like we’re a little careless in the duels. Instead of playing simply, we overcomplicate things and we miss the right timing to pass the ball, to release it and we lose balls and they score every time in transition. We are made to have possession and keep the ball, to be strong and even if you can’t do anything in the duel, don’t lose it. At the moment, it’s not working for us. A lot of it is due to lack of confidence and obviously it’s also a mental problem. An action, we miss the ball or we lose a duel and we see that we immediately drop, that we lose rhythm and they are capable of breaking our rhythm with the smallest of things. They don’t even need to do much and it’s having a huge impact on us right now.”Gundogan told TNT Sports.
Guardiola worried
An opinion surely shared by his coach. According to information from The AthleticPep Guardiola was at the bottom of the hole after this new defeat. Internally, he had explained in recent weeks that he was not worried because the poor form was due, according to him, to the numerous absences. But the injury returns have not changed anything and this was clearly not planned by Guardiola. “Of course I question myself. In good times and bad. I have been calm in the good times and I am also calm in the bad. I’m very honest when it comes to saying we’re not playing well and when we’re playing well. It’s the way we play that will save us, the results give us confidence and motivation. (…) We need the last gesture, we will fail but persevere”analyzed the coach after the match. The British daily also explains that even if he was long misunderstood by his group because of his constant rotation of his players, this rotation allowed the whole group to have freshness in an energy-hungry system.
But with injuries, this has not been possible as for example Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan have started the club’s last six matches. De Bruyne, who has just returned from injury, has played the last three matches, while Dias, also returning from injury, has started the last four. Internally, we fear that the players will start to decline even more with morale at its lowest. The winter transfer window is expected to give a boost to the season but we will also have to hit hard this summer. Because even at full strength, the squad showed its limits with wingers singled out for their ineffectiveness and their inability to destabilize the opponent, Haaland less physically fresh and without a replacement in his position and aging midfielders. One thing is certain, Pep Guardiola has not finished scratching his hair…
