The British pundits emphasized that consistency has been the key to Guardiola’s City’s success. Guardiola has rarely made big changes between seasons.
When Manchester City lost 0-2 to Juventus in the Champions League this week, the club’s bafflingly creepy run of success continued. City have only one win, two draws and seven losses in their last ten matches.
Having led City to the Premier League title four times in a row Pep Guardiola’s similar misery has not been seen in my career.
On the broadcast of TNT Sports, an expert, a former top scorer of ManU and the England national team Rio Ferdinand was embarrassed. He said that given the past, City still cannot be counted out of the top flight this season.
But still, now we see something unheard of.
– In general, we have never seen such a bad Guardiola team. He needs to find a way to reinforce what his team is doing and restore confidence. They are now under real pressure.
The BBC listed stats that show City’s particularly dark streak:
Critical moments
After the Juventus defeat, Pep Guardiola repeated the following mantra to the media: we played very well, I’m proud of my players and hopefully the results will turn around soon.
The experts saw it differently: City are very easy to injure, while their attack lacks threat and the players are frustrated.
There are 36 teams playing in the Champions League, of which only eight go directly to the top 16. Those who finished in places 9–24 start from the 1st playoff round.
City are in 22nd place and next face PSG in 25th place. In addition, City will face Brugge in the first round.
In the Premier League, City is fourth, eight points behind the top team Liverpool, who played a match less.
Where’s the problem?
The British pundits emphasized that the success factor for Guardiola’s City has been consistency. Guardiola has rarely made big changes between seasons, instead focusing on perfecting small details.
Rio Ferdinand sees this as one of the reasons for the current problems. The players are tired and too comfortable.
Renewal is also needed in sports, but in the summer City only signed a winger Savinho and having previously starred for City Ilkay Gündogan’s.
Ex-Chelsea striker Pat Nevin saw that we are now living in monumental moments for City’s future.
At the same time, it is clear that they are lived in terms of the whole of British football, after all, City has won every Premier League title since the 2017-18 season.
– Pep Guardiola’s dominance has been seen – well, at least for now. City won’t disappear from the top any time soon, but Britain’s greatest ever run is over. A monumental rebuild is needed, and they know it.
One reason is, of course, injuries – especially to the best player in the world Rodrin losing for the entire season.
City lost its biggest security, so it is easy to be wounded by counterattacks. At the moment, City are unable to control the midfield and calm down their game.
– Rodri, people say, but there is a bigger picture than that. It’s now easy to play through City’s grouping, and it’s not about Rodri, but about the functionality of the whole team, Rio Ferdinand however reminded.
It should be clear that Guardiola, who has recently signed a two-year contract extension, does not need to be afraid of being fired right away, but now he is in a new kind of turmoil in his illustrious career.
– In this club, you have to win, and if you don’t win, you get into trouble. I know people ask why Pep isn’t in trouble, why Pep isn’t getting sacked. What we have done for the last eight years, that’s why I have such a margin, the Catalan pilot stated earlier.