These are deep, uncharted waters for Manchester City. And for Pep Guardiola too. The Premier League champions, defending their title for the fourth successive season, have finally capitulated.
It didn’t seem possible. Such is the ridiculous nature of Guardiola’s success. Let’s not forget that he has sculpted one of the greatest success stories in modern sport, taking an ageing Citizen side and turning it into a behemoth, indestructible at times, unstoppable at others.
However, past triumphs feel rather hollow when your team is bogged down in the ditch, incapable of escaping the sucking mud of a wretched run of form, ahead of Sunday’s Manchester Derby.
There have been plenty of culprits, plenty of intricate reasons behind a staggering collapse.
Man City's worst performers in 2024/25
It’s been a torrid run of results. Man City’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium last week stands as the lonely win across ten matches in all competitions, with seven defeats.
So much isn’t working. Erling Haaland has only scored three goals across his past ten Premier League outings, while Savinho is yet to break his duck since arriving in the summer and Jeremy Doku’s potency is negligible.
In defence, Kyle Walker has perhaps been the most criticised member, with talkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino rebuking the 34-year-old’s “alarming” form, filled with errors and bereft of trademark pace.
Of course, the most detrimental non-performer in the City squad is Rodri, albeit for different reasons. The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner has been sidelined since September with an ACL injury that is expected to keep him out until the end of the season.
It’s been a big blow, but other players have needed to step up in his absence and they frankly haven’t. City look weak in the duel and susceptible on the counter.
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In recent matches against Forest and Juventus, Jack Grealish has been pulled from the left flank and into a creative central role. It’s designed to resurrect his career, but unfortunately, the England international is flattering to deceive most heavily.
Man City's own Jesse Lingard
In 2021, Man City signed Grealish from Aston Villa for a British-record £100m fee, with the Villan captain’s silky dribbling and captivating playmaking elevating him to prominent standing within his homeland.
While he was never the most efficient of players in front of goal, the Birmingham maestro has fizzled out over the past two years with City, albeit winning the Treble during the 2022/23 campaign.
Unfortunately, now, he’s severely lacking in both end product and inspiration, very much appearing as a shadow of the one-time skilled sensation who convinced Pep to shell out a club-record figure for his signing.
24/25
City
16 (9)
0
2
23/24
City
36 (26)
3
3
22/23
City
50 (41)
5
11
21/22
City
39 (31)
6
4
20/21
Villa
27 (25)
7
10
What’s worse is that, following the bruising Juventus loss in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, Grealish has now gone 44 matches in all competitions without a goal for the Etihad side. If he fails to net again this weekend, it would mark a whole year without a goal for the club.
In truth, his decline and diminished influence suggest that he might be turning into Guardiola’s own version of Jesse Lingard.
While Lingard had his moments for Manchester United, he ultimately went missing far too often, unable to capture and sustain his natural-born skills.
In fact, the former Three Lions star actually finished the 2019 calendar year without a single goal or assist in the Premier League, territory that Grealish is now creeping toward.
Could it be that Grealish, while an immensely talented and dynamic player, is failing to produce when his team need him the most, a bit like Lingard?
Man City are going to make sweeping changes in 2025, with an exodus needed after a once powerful engine room malfunctioned and suffered irreversible damage.
Grealish needs to be cast aside.
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