Such has been Manchester City’s level this year, that they have been constantly caught sleeping by opponents. Not only in Europe, but also in the Premier League they have looked toothless against teams.
It was supposed to be an iconic affair in the Bernabeu but it would be safe to say that Manchester City got schooled by Real Madrid and it was not what people expected it to be. After the 1st leg defeat, everybody expected Manchester City to go all guns blazing at the Bernabeu as this was their last hope of staying alive in European competitions but they just couldn’t seep through the Madrid defence.
This City’s downfall needs to be studied and while we are at it let’s look how City have under-performed their expectations and what could be the reason for this malfunction.
One horse race in Premier League
Manchester City have been the record breakers as they won their fourth consecutive league title last year and meanwhile became the first team to do so. Also to add to this they have managed to win the last 6 league titles in the last 7 Premier League campaigns.
Such have been their dominance in the Premier League that no team has come close to what Pep Guardiola’s men have achieved. But this season has been a major blip in Guardiola’s managerial career as he has been ousted by Real Madrid from the Champions League and sit 4th on the Premier League table closely followed by rivals.
The Reason of this Downfall
Many have speculated that current Ballon D’or recipient, Rodri’s ACL and his absence has caused this disastrous season for City. His absence has been a major miss for Guardiola as Rodri was the glue to this City’s attack and defence and was one of the best at what he was doing.
Some other reasons that have also arose are the aging squad has finally caught up with Guardiola’s style of play and the midfield looks to be a major culprit in this case as the midfield consisting of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan have severely under-performed throughout the season.
Another reason that is doing the rounds is that after Guardiola’s divorce he has been finding it hard to bring solutions to the table. Guardiola is one of the most respected managers and is considered one of the finest tacticians of the game but this year he seems to be out of ideas.
Injuries to many other Manchester City’ s players have also caused this malfunction of this well oiled squad as many players have to be played out of position and are being demanded to perform at the highest level.
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The reason could be any of these or might be the collection of all these problems arising at once. Manchester City seems to be porous in their defence, lazy in their attack and the midfield seems to be non-existent as it is being by-passed without any difficulty.
Reinforcements-
After splurging 150 million euros in the market for new players, City still seems to be out of their mojo. This could mean a bigger revamp over the summer window as many City stars likely to leave. Pep Guardiola, who has signed a contract extension till 2027 would not want his legacy at City to be tarnished.
So, Man City would be looking at many new upcoming talents to boost their squad and spend more money over the summer window to create a new squad with fresh legs. Talents like Omar Marmoush, Abdulkodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and many more have been added already but City would be looking to attract some more young talents to continue their project.
