After the 4-1 defeat to Sporting in the Champions League, midfielder Bernardo Silva said Man City were in a very dark period. However, coach Pep Guardiola did not necessarily think so. The Man City captain said that the team played well against Sporting for most of the match, as they did against Tottenham in the League Cup. However, Pep did not deny that The Citizens were not good enough to win, as they lost to Bournemouth last weekend.
No matter how Pep reassures himself, there is no denying that Man City are currently suffering from a lot of negative things. First of all, injuries are becoming more and more common. Besides Rodri being out for the whole season, apart from conductor Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku are all yet to return.
At this point, those who criticized Pep in the transfer saga took the opportunity to emphasize again. It seems that Man City have bought too little and are somewhat overconfident in rotating players. Although the stars at the Etihad Stadium can be versatile, playing well in many positions, if too many are injured, the number of people left is not enough to calculate anything.
As for the rest, some key players are not in good form like Phil Foden or Ilkay Gundogan. That is also one of the reasons that is as bad as the injuries Man City is suffering.
With Rodri absent, Pep knew he couldn’t find anyone in the squad who could fill the Spaniard’s role. So instead of finding a holding player, Pep wanted to give the entire midfield the task of controlling the ball well to prevent opponents from attacking. With Rico Lewis, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, Man City fielded their best ball-carrying players but still failed.
The obvious problem is that when they lose the ball, this group doesn’t have the stamina to chase and win it back. Moving Lewis from right-back to central midfield puts even more pressure on the City defence. That’s why, while City may look good when they have the ball, they have real problems when the opposition accelerates to attack.
When Sporting play fast and direct, Man City still keep the rhythm and do not seem to speed up the game. Why Pep does this is something he has not explained. Man City can play evenly in midfield with Sporting by playing fast and furious but they still like to linger around with the ball. Then when they lose control, there is no one else capable of saving the situation like Rodri.
The problem of lack of goals seems to never appear at Man City but in fact it is happening. On a not so outstanding day, Erling Haaland also missed a penalty, directly turning the game in favor of Sporting in terms of spirit. Not to mention the departure of Julian Alvarez, but normally, Man City still has many factors that can score.
If not the attacking stars, John Stones, Josko Gvardiol or Mateo Kovacic are also expected to score. In the past, they have proven their ability to do this well. However, against Sporting, and further ahead against Tottenham and Bournemouth, City's strikers suddenly became surprisingly harmless.
18 months ago, like Bernardo, Gundogan spoke of a period just as bad for Man City as this one.
"I feel like something is not right. The club's performance has lost its usual hunger, it's not like in past years."
At this point, it is impossible to say that Man City will win the treble again. Just playing well and competing in the Premier League and Champions League is too difficult at this time. While they do not know how to completely resolve the current crisis, Man City need to do well against Brighton this weekend in the Premier League.
Next, they will need to make a big effort against Tottenham and Liverpool after the FIFA Days break in November. Only then will The Citizens fans know whether the current crisis will bring down their beloved team or not.
