In the final seconds before referee Darren England blew the whistle to end the match between Brighton and Man City, Pep Guardiola became lifeless on the sidelines. His face bowed to the ground, his hands tightly imprinted in his pants pocket and walked slowly on the Amex pitch.
After that, Pep did not shake hands with Fabian Hurzeler, did not say a single word to his students, he just walked quietly along the field, then reluctantly turned to the stands to applaud the The Citizens fan group.
That image accurately reflects Man City's last 30 minutes against Brighton. That was the lack of vitality and hope, where Pep Guardiola's team completely gave up before the result.
A 1-2 defeat at Amex, following a 0-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad the week before, left Man City with only 3 points after 3 rounds. This is the lowest score Pep Guardiola has ever won at this stage of his entire coaching career. This is also the first time since September 2021 that they have to be below Man United in the Premier League rankings after at least 3 rounds.
To see how difficult Man City have been this season, let's look back at the match against Brighton. In the first hour of the match, Man City controlled the game. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the first half. Despite missing 3 more good chances, everything is still under control. Meanwhile, Brighton seem to be running out of ideas.
However, the decision to use Hurzeler's 4 substitutions at the same time in the 60th minute changed the situation. The freshness of physical strength, combined with the enthusiastic atmosphere in the stands, made the match explode again. Normally, Man City had enough courage to putting out the fire. However, this time, Pep and his students were helpless.
James Milner and his teammates brought the energy that Hurzeler himself described as "versal-like transmission". Brighton scored 2 goals in a row to turn the situation around and earn 3 points.
The worrying thing for Pep Guardiola is that his students seem to have only accepted. Although there were still steel frames such as Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodri and Haaland on the field, the away team was too weak.
Child mistakes - Rodri bitterly commented on the sloppiness in ball control. Meanwhile, Pep admitted: "Everyone has forgotten about having to continue playing football", after Matheus Nunes let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area, giving Milner an equalizer on the penalty spot.
Perhaps the Man City team once believed that a summer break would help them heal all their wounds, and then the series of collapses in the mid-season of last season would soon be forgotten. However, the Premier League has never been that simple.
When a strong team is on a downward trend, opponents are no longer hesitant and afraid that the team is in Pep Guardiola's hands.
In the match against Brighton, Man City led 1-0 in the first half but now no longer have to accept the opponent's large defense as before. On the contrary, the home team dared to counterattack to win.
Although they have lost 2 consecutive matches, Man City has not really fallen into crisis. They have not yet fallen into the dark period from October 2024 to February 2025 in the previous season, when their form collapsed for many consecutive months.
However, Man City has not shown the necessary stability to enter the championship race. The squad still has many quality stars but the "invincible" mentality that was once the biggest advantage under Pep Guardiola has now disappeared.
To find that again, Pep and his students need more motivation, they need a convincing victory, need to prove to the whole tournament that Man City is still the strongest team in England in the past 7 years.
The upcoming Manchester Derby could be a great opportunity for Pep Guardiola and his students to prove their mettle. However, that is if they win. On the other hand, a defeat could put The Citizens in crisis with 3 consecutive losses.
