New Delhi: Just one win in their last eleven games, nine points behind the league leaders Liverpool and there’s a massive possibility that City could not even qualify for the next round of Champions League. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are in shambols as the past two months have been complete disaster for the men in sky blues. Time is ticking for the defending Premier League champions as currently they sit fifth in the league after their disastrous performance against their main rivals Manchester United where they managed to throw the game away at the very end to gift their neighbours the three points.
So far things have gone horribly wrong for Pep Guardiola’s side and there are a numerous reasons behind their rapid downfall this season. Some would say that they miss their Ballon D’or winning midfielder, Rodri, who has been the heart of that deadly midfield for a while now. There are no doubts about the fact that City do miss him in big games when there is a massive need for an anchoring midfielder down the middle of the park but there is a bigger problem that the current players are facing on the pitch.
Stars of Man City looking down and out
“I’m not good enough, I’m not doing well. That is the truth.”
Pep Guardiola heavily critical of himself following yet another Man City defeat 😳
🔗 https://t.co/oZyesCuBKQ pic.twitter.com/4ZxqX0AxLL
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) December 15, 2024
It is pretty easy to spot the lack of confidence in every move that the City players make on the pitch. It has been quite a while since we witnessed the actual flow of play that the same players used to display a couple of seasons back. The free flowing game that the City stars were playing under Pep Guardiola is simply not present because of their lack of confidence rather than creativity. It is pretty evident to see how the players are missing their passes upfront which is eventually affecting their attacking threat.
The sharpness in their passing is not their, something which is extremely ‘unlike Man City.’ These issues have occured due to the lack of cofidence and self belief which is clearly affecting their game. The defence has looked shakier than ever with the players making avoidable errors at the back and losing composure. Even in the match against United, it was Matheus Nunes who made a blunder of a back pass at a crucial stage of the game before eventually losing his head and committing an unnecessary challenge that led to the penalty.
The defensive casualties are something that you cannot expect from a stacked City backline. It seems like the team that managed to play free flowing football throughout the 90 minutes are all of a sudden panicking in the latter stages of the game, or simply not handling high pressure situations well due to lapse of concentration. City have always been a side that strike fear in the hearts of their opponents, but this season it seems like even the mid table clubs have looked unphased by their attacking threat on the pitch.
Frustration and lack of adaptivity
One win in the last 11 games for Man City 🤯📉 pic.twitter.com/XWUuDFL1qR
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 15, 2024
Players have looked extremely tired with the poor results and they are just not doing enough to pull themselves back up to get the desired results. The frustration is clearly evident in the way they have played so far. There is no motivation amongst the players which raises questions on locker room leadership. Senior players like Kevin De Buyne, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan are clearly not having the type of impact that they once used to.
One of the main factors that is also affecting the players psychologically is their habit of of winning games. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are clearly not used to this, as they have set their standards high in the past few seasons. They have never found themselves in this sort of a situation where they are chasing something. All this leads to just one fact that they are unable to adjust to this catastrophic situation which is affecting their ability to bounce back.
There are a numerous reasons behind the rapid downfall of Manchester City that have psychologically affected Pep Guardiola and the players. Let’s have a look at what’s going wrong for the defending English champions. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
