Guardiola’s standards finally starting to slip

PERHAPS it is no surprise Manchester City are starting to falter after two years of excellence and dominance under Pep Guardiola.

They have set an unprecedented standard over the past two seasons, amassing 100 and 98 points to win back-to-back titles and set records in the process.

The intensity at which Guardiola operates and the relentless demands he places on his staff and players have enabled City to win five of the last six domestic trophies.

But Sunday’s shock 2-0 defeat at home to Wolves, on the back of the 3-2 loss at promoted Norwich, exposed deficiencies in Guardiola’s opponents can now exploit.

Admittedly, he is without his injured first-choice central defensive duo of Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, meaning he is forced to use midfielder Fernandinho alongside Nicolas Otamendi – and both had an afternoon to forget against Wolves.

The failure to sign a replacement for former skipper Vincent Kompany – City refused to pay £80m for Harry Maguire – and their vulnerability at full-back, particularly on the left, has undermined their title defence.

They have handed Liverpool an eight-point lead after as many games. side that City may have closed a seven-point gap on Jurgen Klopp’s side last season, eventually overhauling them to win a second straight title.

But with Liverpool boasting a 100 per cent record this season and showing no signs of weakness, even some of Guardiola’s players are starting to lose faith.

“It’s not easy to take these things and see your biggest rival win all the time,” said midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

“We’ve definitely dropped too many points.

“If that’s the case in the next few weeks the gap will be even bigger, so we have to win as much as possible.

“There are still a lot of points to play for but if we want to speak about the title, we have to hope Liverpool will drop points. That’s a fact we can’t be happy with and obviously we aren’t.”

Guardiola has never lasted more than four years at any of his clubs.

He stepped down at Barcelona after four seasons, citing mental exhaustion, then took a year-long sabbatical before reappearing at Bayern Munich for a three-year stint.

Now in his fourth season at City, it is tempting to wonder if that pattern will continue and this will turn out to be his final campaign, even though he is under contract until 2021.

But having taken City to unprecedented heights over the past two seasons, keeping them in such a lofty position looks to be taking its toll.