Manchester City’s Recent Struggles: ‘Never Seen a Guardiola Team This Bad’

Pep Guardiola finds himself in an unfamiliar situation. His Manchester City squad’s ongoing slump persisted on Wednesday as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Juventus, making their progression to the Champions League knockout stages highly uncertain. This result, when viewed within their recent performance trend, presents a concerning picture. The latest loss means the team has secured only one victory in their last 10 matches, experiencing seven defeats during this period. While it would be premature to dismiss their capabilities at this point in the season, Guardiola recognizes the urgent need to reverse this poor run of form. Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand commented on TNT Sports: “I think we are still going to be surprised given what they have done in recent years.” He added, “They have been a formidable team, they won four Premier Leagues on the bounce, they have a history of being very successful.” Ferdinand continued, “But we just have not seen a Pep Guardiola side in general ever be this bad. He has to find a way of galvanising this team and reinstalling some form and confidence.” He concluded, “They are under real pressure now.” The statistics underpinning Manchester City’s recent form indicate that it has evolved beyond a minor setback into a significant concern. Since the beginning of November, Manchester City has conceded 20 goals across all competitions, a higher tally than any other team from Europe’s big five leagues. City has allowed two or more goals in each of their last seven away games across all competitions, a frequency equal to that of their previous 46 combined matches. They have conceded nine goals in their last three Champions League games (following four against Sporting and three against Feyenoord), despite having kept clean sheets in their first three this season. This marks the first instance in Guardiola’s managerial career, across all clubs, that his side has conceded two or more goals in three consecutive Champions League matches. Furthermore, they have now gone eight games without a clean sheet away from home in all competitions, matching the longest such streak in Guardiola’s managerial career (which also occurred in October 2016). Following the loss to Juventus, Guardiola chose to highlight positive aspects, stating: “We played good, really, really good.” He added, “We concede few, some transition happened but I am so proud for these players. They give everything and they tried and now we live in this period and hopefully we can change results.” However, ex-Manchester City defender Nedum Onouha remarked on Match of the Day: “They found it very hard to break [Juventus] down and Erling Haaland himself was frustrated.” He further observed, “To make it even worse there were times where City were very open. They seemed so stretched.” Any team finishing below 24th place will be eliminated from the Champions League. Guardiola’s team entered Wednesday’s match knowing they would likely need to win all three of their remaining league phase fixtures to finish in the top eight and automatically qualify for the knockouts. However, they are now five points adrift of the top eight with six points still available, meaning progressing via the play-offs is their most probable route. They currently occupy 22nd place, with teams finishing ninth to 24th proceeding to a two-legged tie in February for a spot in the last 16. Nevertheless, City holds only a one-point advantage over Paris St-Germain in 25th place and is scheduled to visit the French giants on January 22 in what is expected to be a crucial fixture. After that, they have a seemingly winnable home game against Club Brugge, although a poor result against PSG would place them under considerable pressure heading into that match. Guardiola further commented: “We have two games, we need one point maybe.” He continued, “You go to Turin, Paris, our three games away were really tough. You have to accept it.” He concluded, “We will turn around, not forget that period, appreciate more what we have done in the past and what we are going to do in the future.” A key factor in Manchester City’s success under Guardiola has been their consistency. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager has seldom made extensive changes to his squad between seasons, instead focusing on identifying primary areas for improvement and strengthening them appropriately. While this approach has been their greatest asset during their multiple title runs, it is now being considered a potential reason for their recent difficulties, with Ferdinand suggesting that “tiredness” among players who have been integral to City’s success could be a contributing factor. In the summer, they acquired winger Savinho from Troyes and brought back midfielder Ilkay Gundogan from Barcelona. Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin, speaking before Wednesday’s loss to Juventus, stated that a significant rebuild of the squad is necessary. Nevin said: “It is worth considering just how momentous a period this will turn out to be in years to come.” He added, “Pep Guardiola’s dominance is done – well, it is for the time being. Manchester City will not melt away to obscurity any time soon, but the run of clearly being the best of the best in Britain is over.” Nevin emphasized, “There is a rebuild of monumental proportions needed – and they know it.” He then posed a question, “How quickly can this be done? Inside two years is the answer as Chelsea have shown with their recent merciless clear-out and restructuring plan.” It is widely acknowledged that Manchester City has been hindered by a substantial injury list this season. Oscar Bobb, John Stones, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji are all sidelined, but the most significant absence has been Rodri. Against Juventus, City struggled to manage transitions of play, and the unavailability of the Spain international has meant they have been unable to dominate midfield as they have previously. “Rodri, people are talking about, but there is a bigger picture than that,” Ferdinand said in the build-up to the Juventus fixture. He elaborated, “They have lacked the control in the midfield area. They have not been able to react to the transition as well at the moment. They don’t seem to have the security within the team.” Ferdinand concluded, “They have been easy to play through; that isn’t about Rodri, that is about the functionality of the team.” Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott added on TNT Sports: “It is not down to one individual, but with Rodri I think it is the only position where the replacement isn’t as impactful.” He further stated, “There is never going to be one thing that is the reason for great results or negative results. There has to be a combination of everything coming together and it is building blocks slowly.” Manchester City’s current difficult spell, much like their periods of strong form, is not expected to last indefinitely. While they have not experienced such a challenging run under Guardiola before, they have a history of bouncing back emphatically after unfavorable results. For instance, in December 2018, they lost three Premier League games and were 10 points off the top, but subsequently went on to win 18 of their next 19 matches to overturn the deficit and secure the title. Guardiola concluded by saying: “Of course I question myself, in the good moments, in the bad moments.” He added, “I was stable in the good moments, I was stable in the bad moments.” He finished, “I try to find the way, find the win.”