With yesterday’s defeat in Brighton, City suffered its fourth consecutive defeat, something unprecedented in Pep Guardiola’s career as a coach so far. With Bayern, in 14-15, they also lost four in a row, but one was in the Cup on penalties: 1-1 Dortmund (and penalties); 2-0 Leverkusen; 3-0 Barça in Champions; and 0-1 Augsburg. The one in Brighton joins the previous three, which were: in Carabao (2-1 Tottenham); in the Premier League (2-1 Bournemouth); and in the Champions League (4-1 Sporting CP).
The league defeat, after letting a 0-1 draw, came after Lisbon’s 4-1. City had not conceded four goals in Europe since October 2016 (4-0 against Barca) and interrupted a streak of 25 games without losing in the Champions League (not counting losses on penalties) that Pep had since May 2022.
Pep has never been so sunk… but let’s look at some of the causes that have led to this, before the international break and then facing Tottenham, his next rival… and which could lead to his fifth consecutive defeat.
Many injuries… and Rodri. The carousel of injuries since the season began has been enormous. Currently, and this is what happened in Brighton, Grealish, Bobb, Doku, Stones, Rodri and Rubén Días are out of orbit. De Bruyne (who played 15 minutes against Sporting) is already tall, but he is lacking rhythm. The defense is now made up of two 19-year-old boys: right back Rico Lewis and center back Simpson-Pursey. Rodri is a separate chapter, as he is their most key player. Pep tries to find a replacement for him with partial solutions: Kovacic, Gündögan, Matheus Nunes… Going to the winter market is a solution.
Sporting thrashes Manchester City with a spectacular hat-trick from Gyökeres.
Haaland dependency. Of the 22 goals that the team has in the Premier, 12 are from the Norwegian, who also scored yesterday. The injuries of Doku, De Bruyne and Grealish increase this dependency, plus the departure of Julian Alvarez.
Pep’s last year. The Catalan arrived at the Etihad in the summer of 2016 and this could be his last season, since his contract ends in 2025. This does create some instability in the team environment. In addition, Txiki Begiristain, the team’s football director, will also leave his position, and the Portuguese Hugo Viana will take his place.
Spine on the wire. Not only Guardiola’s future is up in the air. Also a large part of the backbone that built the treble of Premier, Champions and FA Cup in 2023. From back to front, between 2025 and 2026 Ederson, Walker, Stones, Gündögan, De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva end their contract. Many contracts to be resolved that, surely, do not have many players with their heads where they should be.
Lack of profiles. For years, City was among the best teams in the world… for the quality of its players and for having a rotation that practically allowed Pep to have two starting elevens. However, Pep has been losing profiles in recent times that have left several orphaned positions. One is the pivot, with the goodbye of Fernandinho, who was never covered by Kalvin Phillips (now in Ipswich); and the second, this summer, with the departure of Julian Alvarez to Atlético at the point of attack.
It does not surprise rivals. Pep always invents and reinvents himself (inside sides, central midfielder…), but he has been in England for so many years that his rivals seem to have gotten the hang of him in defense and attack.
But still… Yes, despite this crisis, despite everything they want, City is (only) five points below Liverpool (they can be overcome) and the Champions League is still very open, in addition to the FA Cup ( of the Carabao are already out). So… the ‘antiPep’ should not trust too much, because City can still win the most important titles.