Jamie Carragher Links Manchester City’s Recent Defeats to Midfield Issues

Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher has stated that Manchester City’s sequence of five consecutive defeats is largely due to the absence of injured midfielder Rodri and what he termed “poor” recruitment in the midfield over recent seasons. Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher remarked, “Rodri is the obvious one but the problem they have got is the players they have brought into the midfield have struggled.” He further explained that this issue was present last season, particularly regarding goals conceded from counter-attacks, and remains a significant factor. Carragher noted, “It was a problem last season, in terms of conceding goals on the counter-attack, but there were lots of problems there. A lot of the goals I look at [this season] come down to midfield.” Carragher emphasized Rodri’s importance, stating, “Rodri is a huge miss, but the player profile of who they have brought in – people say they have brought older players in like Kovacic and Gundogan, but the younger players they brought in didn’t work.” He highlighted specific examples of recruitment failures, adding, “They’re playing Nunes out wide when he plays, when he was bought as a central midfield player, and there’s also Kalvin Phillips, so their recruitment in that area has been really poor and that’s what’s really costing them right now.” Manchester City’s upcoming Premier League fixture is against league leaders Liverpool on Sunday at Anfield. A defeat in this match would place them 11 points adrift of the Reds. Carragher further commented on the potential implications of such a result, stating, “If you go 11 points clear of a rival and you’ve only got to play them one more time as well, I think it is a long way back for City.” He elaborated on his concerns, adding, “It’s not so much the points, it’s watching City. I think with 26 games to go, the way City are right now, you could probably still see them losing another four or five games of those 26.” He concluded by asserting, “You can’t win the league if you lose six or seven games. I think it will be tough for City if they don’t get the result they want at the weekend.”