In football, no one is free from a crisis. Not even those who invest millions in signings every year, have the highest budgets in the world and have stars on their roster. And that is what is happening to Pep Guardiola‘s <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/premier-league-manchester-citys-turnover-for-the-first-time-higher-than-manchester-uniteds/" title="Premier League – Manchester City's turnover for the first time higher than Manchester United's”>Manchester City. If at first there was talk of a couple of specific episodes of bad results, that speech is no longer useful. It is the first time that the celestials have chained four defeats followed in just ten days with the Santpedor coach in charge. Brighton‘s comeback in just five minutes has set off all the alarms in the sumptuous ship of the ‘citizens’. This hasn’t happened since 2006.
That last defeat hurts especially in Manchester, because the game was going more or less well – at least on the scoreboard -, and it would be the reaction after a tough win in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon. 4-1 against that Guardiola had not had to digest for a long time. But no, Brighton did not pay the price. Rather, he managed to poke into the wound of a team that was so used to winning that it seemed to have forgotten how difficult it was.
Now the light blues are second in the Premier, but they are five points behind a Liverpool that is showing enormous solidity. And in just over two weeks comes the direct duel between the two at Anfield, on December 1st. A double-edged sword, because City has in its power to cut three points if it wins, but if it misses the mark it could be very difficult to recover with up to eight points behind with the League already close to the halfway point.
Above all, the big difference compared to last year is in the defensive aspect. In these eleven games, City have conceded 13 goals. The 2023/24 season at this time had received eight. On the other hand, the scoring aspect remains practically the same. It is the ease of conceding goals that has made them a more vulnerable team, along with the aforementioned rise in Liverpool’s level.
The truth is that the slump started like a Halloween nightmare, in the EFL Cup against Tottenham. A 2-1 that knocked Guardiola’s team out of the competition in the round of 16 and marked the beginning of this carousel of four consecutive defeats that is unprecedented. It’s true that the numerous injuries aren’t exactly helping either. Rodri, Akanji or Nunes are some of the names important ones that Pep cannot have at the moment.
Be that as it may, in the Champions League things are not much better. The team has a margin, it is true, but right now it is outside the group of eight that would go directly to the round of 16. Tenth with four games left, their rival in the transitional round sIt would be Atlético de Madrid or PSV if it ended like this. And with how crazy this League phase is being, of course not being in that group of eight at the top can mean finding a ‘bogeyman’ to play for you.
If the sporting aspect is not very good at all, in the purely institutional aspect the situation is not much more hopeful. It continues to develop the macro-trial that could lead to a historic sanction for the club. A punishment that could even lead to a demotion and, with it, the release of the players. At the moment the storm is still far away because the resolution will be in January, but clouds are still visible on the horizon.
Guardiola did not want to add hot water, although he admits that he does not know “what is happening.” For now, he wants to wait until after the national team break and “reset” to find the best version of his team again: “I don’t know what has to change, but we will be better just for the fact that we will have more players to play with,” he said after the match against Brighton. In fact, He attributed the defeat to “fatigue” of the footballers.
Now it remains to be seen if he is able to turn the situation around. The match against Liverpool seems vital for the race for the Premier, and in the Champions League there is room to react, but not to make mistakes again. But this City is proof that in football, not even the greatest are free from a short circuit. We’ll see if the crisis in paradise lasts long.
