Is this just a City blip or should the alarm bells be ringing?
PEP GUARDIOLA does not generally lose games in the Carabao Cup, a competition Manchester City have won four times under their current manager.
Beyond blooding their best youngsters, City view the trophy as a valuable exercise in handing match minutes and sharpness to those who have not contributed so much during the season but may be called upon as the campaign becomes congested. It worked against Chelsea and Liverpool in previous rounds but at Southampton on Wednesday, those given the chance to impress failed. City did not register a shot on target for the first time in five years; not even the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland helped. Although they have beaten Chelsea twice, Liverpool and Leeds since the World Cup, supporters have a number of concerns — not just for tomorrow’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford but their overall Premier League title defence.
ATTITUDE PROBLEM
‘You have to be prepared when playing for Manchester City and we were not,’ Guardiola said at St Mary’s. ‘I had a feeling that whatever line-up, we would have performed this way. We were not here.’
Reading between the lines, that suggests the manager was referring to body language for the second time this month. Guardiola — whose Etihad tenure has not been without heated discussions with players about team selection — would prefer this to any deep-rooted problems on the pitch.
He prides himself on keeping a squad energised throughout a season and, publicly at least, says thathat is the most important aspect of his job. These before, spells noticeably have happened aply during a slump twoo years ago. Back then, captain Fernandinho tore strips off his team- mates after a sloppy training session — a moment that helped spark them into life.
City may need thee same from Ilkay Gundogan nme. (right) this time. The German laid baree the issues yesterday.
‘Southampton was a lack of attitude, atti confidence and commitment,’ he said. ‘Hopefully it was the right wake-up call for us. We’ve won games but I feel like something is missing, something’s off. At the minute there’s a special recipe missing — performances, the desire and hunger is not as in recent years. We need to start working hard again, we need to be humble because things will not come to us automatically.’
That requires fixing quickly.
ALARM BELLS: WHERE’S THE LEFT BACK?
CITY have muddled through at left back for years. oleksandr Zinchenko never earned the full vote of confidence and Joao Cancelo has been converted from a right back.
Zinchenko was allowed to leave without a replacement coming in — City refused to meet Brighton’s valuation of Marc Cucurella — and ended up signing Sergio Gomez from Anderlecht instead. Gomez, whose agent is Guardiola’s brother, would have left on loan had they secured a senior full back. He has struggled.
All of this has prompted square pegs in round holes, especially as Cancelo’s form has dipped. The Portuguese was at fault for the defeat at Liverpool earlier in the season and has not reached anywhere near previous heights. He has found starts hard to come by recently — Guardiola spoke of specific players not showing the required ‘ body language’ in training — and Nathan Ake has been asked to fill in. As good as he is defensively, City then lose something in their fluid build-up.
The best teams have a stable back four — City have operated with 11 different central defensive partnerships this season — John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, arguably the strongest pairing, have not been one of them.
ALARM BELLS: THE EDGE IN MIDFIELD
THE full back situation has a knock-on effect on the rest of the team. An out-ofsorts Cancelo means City have to alter the way they play. He acts as an auxiliary midfielder but without him, that role is then passed on to Kyle Walker or teenager Rico Lewis on the right. There has been a lack of dynamism in the midfield area this year. Guardiola says the only performances he has been displeased with this season were this week’s loss against Southampton and ttheededefeateatbyby Brentford before the World CCup — he insists his team have done what he askeasked in every other fixtfixture. But their play hahas been stodgy on ooccasion. There do not aappear to be the same number of deep runners into the box, with the understandable ttendency to only look fofor Haaland, given his frfreakish ability in front of goal. GuGundogan is not showing ingshowing theth same goalscoring instincinstinct, with Bernardo Silva’s didisplays not as eyecatching. De Bruyne has 14 assists yet has blown hot and cold. Some have filled in as wingers. Square pegs again.
ALARM BELLS: TOO CONSERVATIVE
IT IS very hard to criticise Guardiola tactically. City are only two points shy of their total at this stage last season and successfully defending the title for a second consecutive year would be no surprise whatsoever.
The way in which they operate, following Guardiola’s instructions to the letter, has served City exceptionally well in dominating domestic football. However, there is an argument that in evolving as a coach, Guardiola has become conservative. He wants to control every match, eliminating risk as far as possible and not leaving his team vulnerable to the counter-attack.
That can blunt their attacking edge — certainly that was the case during the New Year’s Eve draw against Everton. Do City worry about the opposition too much? Should they fly forward like the Harlem Globetrotters and back themselves to out-score any opposition?
Guardiola would likely say that is fanciful given even the top teams sit with 11 men behind the ball, forcing City to pick their way through packed defences. And City’s recent history suggests their constant recycling of possession has served them well. ALARM BELLS: