The champions have not just lost five games in a row – they are missing the mental resilience that underpinned all their success
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said Pep Guardiola renewing his contract with Manchester City was "a problem for everybody here", but on the latest evidence, the Catalan extending his stay should be celebrated by every other team in the Premier League. As he surveyed the wreckage of the 4-0 drubbing by Tottenham, the City boss might have wanted to reach for that contract to see if it had any break clauses.
This was a catastrophic defeat for City that was truly shocking, but it was far from a freak result. It was the latest example in a pattern of declining performances from a team that looks to have lost its hunger as well as its legs. Looking at the way City surrendered so meekly against Tottenham as they sank to a fifth consecutive defeat, it would be no exaggeration to say that Guardiola faces as daunting a task in fixing this mess as Amorim does in trying to revive United.
This was a day for statistics aficionados to savour. It was the first time a reigning English league champion had lost five games in a row since Chelsea in 1956. It was the first time City had lost five games in all competitions since 2006, when Stuart Pearce was in charge. The same Stuart Pearce who played goalkeeper David James up front in a bid to qualify for Europe. It was City's worst home defeat since losing 5-1 to Arsenal in February 2003, when they were still playing at Maine Road.
There were many firsts for Guardiola too: it was the first time he has lost three Premier League games in a row and the first time in 17 years as a coach that he has lost five consecutive games in all competitions. It was also the only time he had ever lost a home game by four goals.
Getty Images SportNot a one-off
Never mind the scale of this defeat. The fact that City had lost at all at home was a big surprise. The last time they had tasted defeat at the Etihad Stadium in any competition was in November 2022 when they were beaten by Brentford. But that defeat came courtesy of a 98th-minute goal from Ivan Toney and could have been written off as unlucky.
There was nothing unfortunate about this defeat, though. This was a bloodbath. Tottenham repeatedly passed their way through their generous hosts and City had Ederson to thank for keeping the scoreline dignified in the first half, saving from Dominic Solanke and Son Heung-min.
Double scorer James Maddison said "these are rare days" as he revelled in Tottenham's victory but this was not a one-off for City, not based on their recent form. The champions have conceded 14 goals in their last five games, shipping four in two of their last three. Guardiola could and did point to the players who were out injured such as Rodri, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic and Jeremy Doku, but his starting XI was packed with experience. Eleven players who got on the pitch on Saturday played in the 2023 Champions League final.
Tottenham, meanwhile, were missing both of their first-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Christian Romero, and had five teenagers on their bench. As Gary Neville put it on : "The fact you can't score a goal against the two centre-backs of Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin, that's the biggest worry – they didn't have that clinical edge. This is more than just Rodri, far more."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportAgeing and lacking energy
Maybe the experience was the problem. This side look aged. Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundgogan are both 34 and it is showing. Walker struggled to get back to join the defence for the second goal and was nowhere to be seen when Spurs scored their goals in the second half. "Goodness gracious me," is how Neville reacted when Timo Werner easily dribbled past Walker to tee up Brennan Johnson for the fourth goal.
Gundogan has not looked anything like the player he was when he departed as a treble winner in June 2023. Perhaps a year in La Liga, which is played at a much lower intensity than the Premier League, has caused him damage. But even a prime Gundogan was never the best man to hold a midfield together on his own, and that is what he was asked to do here in the absence of Rodri and Kovacic.
"They're off it, they're short," added Neville. "Things aren't quite clicking; Gundogan couldn't get near anybody, the focus and balance wasn't right with Rico Lewis, Bernardo Silva and they didn't have enough energy to get around them."
Getty Images Sport'A bit fragile'
Guardiola acknowledged that Spurs had the physical edge and that he sought to counter it by controlling the game with many midfielders. That is not new for this City side. What is new is the lack of belief. And Guardiola did not hide it. "We are a bit fragile right now, that is obvious for the fact that we struggled today to score goals," he said.
"And after when they arrived [in the area], they scored. We are playing a little bit in our thoughts, with a little bit of negativity, but it's normal. So football is a sense of mood. And when you win a lot, there's continuity that gives us self-belief that you can do it. And when you lose three games in a row in the Premier League, it's the opposite, that situation [fragility] is always a little bit there."
It is surprising to hear Guardiola use such language about a team who are normally so resilient. This is the team that won the treble and then did what no team had done in 135 years of English football, lift a fourth consecutive league title. But when fruit is at its ripest, it is also closest to going rotten. Guardiola seemed to be suggesting something similar could be happening to his team.
AFPTitle slipping away
"The exceptionality of what we have lived over the last eight years is not eternal. So sometimes it happens, sometimes you drop a little bit," Guardiola said. "We were a team that was always very consistent. We conceded few chances. And now, lately, we concede more than usual. Our game was about control because we're not a team created to run box-to-box 40 times in a game. We are not built for that. We are not good at that. But always, we were a team that conceded few chances. And sometimes we lost games. Like I said, we conceded one or two times. But now we concede more."
Guardiola was in no mood to talk about City's chances of keeping the title. The gap between them and Liverpool is five points and could be eight points by Sunday evening. Next week City visit Anfield, where they have not won a game with fans in the stadium since 2003. Lose and they will be 11 points behind Arne Slot's side, a gap Guardiola admitted is unsurmountable.
"When you lose three Premier League games in a row, the most, the wrong thing to say is we are going to be champions. Maybe I will not be good enough to get us back in that situation. It's exceptional what we have done in the past. But losing three Premier League games in a row can happen. It happened to me as a football player in Barcelona. Now everything is a little bit against us. The best way to go through in that position is to accept the reality."
