Guardiola’s men have to learn to fight to the end!
‘WE fight to the end.’ It has almost become an alternative motto for City since their astonishing fightback to win their first Premier League title in 2012.
The mantra has been followed in terms of winning games - in 2017-18, they made a bewildering habit of pulling late, late winners out of the fire to take three points.
It was a reflection of their shimmering belief, both in their ability to prise a goal out of difficult circumstances and in their own durability.
But all the way through the intervening years, one nagging doubt has remained - how good are City when the tables are turned, and they go behind in games?
And the answer has to be not that good!
It has cost them dearly in the Champions League, not least when Lyon edged ahead and punished their increasingly desperate attempts to claw their way back into it.
The competition remains the missing piece in Pep Guardiola’s reign in Manchester.
At 2-0 down, even the most optimistic of City fans - and they don’t have a reputation for positive thinking felt the derby was gone on Sunday at the Etihad.
With good reason, because the last time City came back from a two-goal deficit to win was in 1995, before half of the current team were even born!
Blues fans will remember the fightback from 2-0 down against Sunderland in 2012, when Mario Balotelli and Aleks Kolarov delivered a 3-3 draw which spoiled a perfect record at the Etihad that season, but also proved vital in clinching the title on that thrilling final day.
But as a matter of course, when City go two down in a league game, they lose.
They are not much better from 1-0 down, either. Examining the stats can be misleading, as City very rarely go a goal down.
But the last time they fought back from going behind was 15 months ago, when Jamie Vardy’s chip gave Leicester the lead, only
An inability to recover from going behind has haunted the Blues in the last four years and shows no signs of going away
for Riyad Mahrez to inspire a 3-1 fightback.
Since that day, the Blues have gone behind in 10 Premier League games and won none of them.
It hardly matters when you win the rest of your games, but that inability to recover from going behind has haunted the Blues in the last four years and shows no signs of going away.
The derby defeat hurts the fans, and the players should be stung by it in the right way, and provide a response against Southampton at the Etihad tomorrow.
But they need to learn to win from losing positions because there will be times in the next two months where they need to draw on that resource.
It matters little in a 38-game league season, as City hardly ever go behind. The problem will come in Europe, where they cannot be certain of dictating to opponents.
Top European sides will notice that the Blues are not as potent when they go behind in games, and when they come up against sides like Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain in the Champions League, it could prove crucial.
Without such resilience to draw on, you could imagine the Blues going behind to Bayern - or to anyone - in a Champions League final, and not having the wherewithal to respond.
They need to develop the habit, and make ‘fight to the end’ more than an empty phrase.