Man City's squad is becoming exhausted
Manchester City at this time seems to have no stable squad to cling to. Besides the victories at the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, it is hard to believe that Pep Guardiola's team has not won any more matches since the lucky 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest on December 27, 2025.
The defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League caused Man City to suffer 2 consecutive defeats for the first time since November last year, after they succumbed in the Manchester derby last weekend.
More worryingly, since the 8-game winning streak closed in 2025, City has only won 2 of their last 7 matches in all competitions. This is the first time their form has seriously declined like this since the period from December 2024 to January 2025.
Pep Guardiola also could not hide his disappointment when he admitted that Man City is becoming fragile. 3 consecutive draws, followed by a heavy defeat to Man United and the shock in the Champions League has sent a strong blow to the morale of the whole team.
Although this cannot be called a crisis, especially when City still has the opportunity to compete in many fronts, reality shows that the blue shirt team is lacking depth. They are losing the balance of the squad and declining form in most lines. A Man City that was once unbeatable is now struggling to find itself.
The fragility in the defense
Like the defeat in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, The Citizens continued to reveal confusion in the defense in the away match at Aspmyra. A special weakness lies in the center of the defense, when Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne could not control the situation against the fast striker duo of Bodo/Glimt.
Alleyne became the focus of negativity when he made direct mistakes in both of his first 2 goals conceded, causing Man City's young defense system to quickly collapse.
It is true that Guardiola's squad suffered serious losses, with 11 key players absent due to injuries, illnesses, suspensions or not being eligible to play. This list includes newcomer Marc Guehi, along with key center-backs Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones.
Guehi's failure to register to play in the Champions League until the group stage ended forced Guardiola to use unintentional options in defense.
However, what really worries Man City fans is how the Bodo/Glimt players - a team that has never won a match in the Champions League before - continuously penetrate the away team's defense too easily.
This defeat will almost certainly push Guardiola to soon give Guehi a Premier League debut opportunity, likely right in the match against Wolves at home this weekend.
Haaland is exhausted
A week ago, Guardiola admitted that Erling Haaland was exhausted, although the Norwegian striker still unexpectedly took the field right in the first half of Man City's 10-1 crush on Exeter City in the third round of the FA Cup.
Since then, the most fearsome scoring machine in Europe has gone through a series of forgettable days. Haaland was substituted for the first time in the middle of a match at Old Trafford last weekend, in a lackluster performance against Man United.
The return trip to his homeland Norway was also not better. The 25-year-old striker continued to be goalless, notably missing an unbelievable opportunity right before halftime when he shot wide of the empty goal.
The image of Guardiola hugging Haaland when pulling him off the field further shows the anxiety in the coaching staff. Up to now, Haaland has not scored from a live ball situation for the past month, and has only scored one goal from a penalty in the last 8 matches.
If Man City wants to save a season that is dragging on, they need their number one striker to regain his scoring instinct. And that must come as soon as possible.
