Since winning the treble with Barcelona in 2008, Pep Guardiola has accustomed us to excellence and has never fallen below remarkable heights. Now, however, he has to face a completely unknown situation after stringing together 4 consecutive defeats for the first time in his 16-year career that has his Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup, in the Champions League playoff zone… already five points of the leadership in Premier.
Obviously, there is no single reason to explain this crisis: recurring absence of key players, scoring dependence on Erling Haaland, uncertainty about the future of Pep Guardiola… Now, the reality is that they all end up leading to the figure of Rodrigo Hernández whose The injury has marked a before and after in Manchester City’s season.
Rodri, lying on the groundMARK
“Imagine that the Warriors lose Curry or Barcelona in their best moment without Messi. They should be less strong. Well, that happens at Manchester City. Rodri is irreplaceable. But we have to move on,” Pep Guardiola himself warned just one day before the crisis began on October 29.
Imagine the Warriors losing Curry or Barcelona in their prime without Messi
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City coach
Although Mateo Kovacic is not out of tune either, we are seeing a much more disorganized team that gets chased quite easily. And, being the team that shoots the least in the Premier (85), the quality of the chances they receive (0.37 PSxG/Shot) is only surpassed by Manchester United (0.38) and Tottenham (0.38). Both, of course, have conceded fewer goals than a Manchester City team that has shot up to 13 in the first 11 days.
“Replacing Rodri is not easy. It is a big task. But it is also a pleasure to have this type of pressure and have an important role in the team,” the Croatian midfielder said several weeks ago.
Replacing Rodri is not easy
Mateo Kovacic, Manchester City player
The defensive fragility is more than palpable in a team that, since Rodri’s injury, allows more passes per defensive action (11.2 – 12.1), executes fewer recoveries in the opposite half (16.8 – 11.9), concedes more shots to the rival (6.25 – 6.86) and wins fewer duels (46.7% – 47.5%). It is not surprising, therefore, that 10 of those 13 goals (not counting the seven between Carabao and Champions) have been conceded in this period of time.
Manchester City’s defensive performance this season with and without RodriDRIBALB
“We are less strong without Rodri. With him, we are better. But now he has to recover well for next season. We go game by game,” laments Guardiola who is fully aware of what it means not to be able to count on the Ballon d’Or.
We are less strong without Rodri
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager
It is true that if there is a team capable of reversing this type of situation, it is Manchester City. But, in what aims to be Guardiola’s last season, it seems that all the cards are stacked against him. “People want our Era to come to an end. But we are not done yet. Liverpool, after winning the Champions League and the Premier League, lost Van Dijk and went to the Europa League,” Pep justifies.
