Manchester City crumble.
Pep Guardiola and his teams have produced more of the best than the pedestrian. Not for nothing he is considered among the most successful coaches ever.
He is relentless, his teams seem more like machines than men. There is always an air of inevitability when other clubs face a team managed by Pep. The intricacies of football theory are on display on the field as his teams move in patterns, weave themselves around the opposition and then slide in to punish.
The Premier league , Guardiola’s latest playboard has seen all this year after year. Even a loss by a goal was an achievement for many teams when playing Manchester City. The big teams would be nervous and the small damaged even before they began. The Armageddon that Pep created would roll on relentlessly. Unbelievable run of wins were a matter of fact for them. All expected it to happen and nothing was to change till this modern day footballing General was up and about plotting to take his team to the next level of robotic efficiency.
But then, as it always happens, the roll has been broken. It came at the least expected time. While the Premier League kicked off, all looked rosy. The rest of the teams were resigned to another year of chasing for the silver while Manchester City looked their usual self. They promptly despatched Chelsea on the opening day. It was business as usual as they continued their unbeaten record.
Pep and Co lose the plot
As the League got older, something unheard of happened. Teams were now scoring against the City defense. Arsenal lead by 2-1 before being reduced to 10 men and drawing. Fulham put two past City, and Brentford one. The team looked ever so slightly human. Errors pooped up, injuries added to the woes and something seemed amiss. The final straw was the injury to Rodri. He was the glue that kept this shadow shifting football team in place and his absence exposed the chinks. Kevin De Bruyne the magician , yet another irreplaceable was nowhere near his best.
It was the first week of November, and City went to Vitality Stadium to square off against Bournemouth. It was two days to an year since they has beaten them by 6-1 in 2023. This time was however different. the Cherries ran out winners by two goals to one. The Champions had lost a game. It was 32 games since they has faced defeat, and the alarm bells were ringing. The win last year had taken them to the top of the table that day, the loss this day had pushed them to second on the table.
Since then it has been a nightmare. The fizz was gone. The opposition teams now had a spark in their eyes. It was clear that the otherwise monstrous Manchester City were now vulnerable like never before. It has been a noisy tumble down the slope. November ended with a 4 goal thumping from the unpredictable Tottenham Hotspurs.
As the season trundled towards the end of the year, Manchester City kept slipping. Furrows on Pep’s forehead has deepened. The team is suddenly looking old and tired. The passing in unconvincing, the formations still move around but sluggishly. The spark is gone and the defence is breached far too easily these days.
Manchester City is in a pickle, no doubting that. The had lost 3 matches all of last season and this year they have lost 6 out of 18. They conceded 34 goals all of last year , and this year with just half the season gone they have been punished 26 times.
It would be a miracle if Pep and City are anywhere near the top at the end of the season. While they have been known to claw back with a ruthlessness that only a Pep team exhibits, this time it just may not be. The shoulders have stooped, the team has ravaged by injuries and it is bleak out there at Etihaad.
At the end of it all, even the best ones are tripped by circumstances. Pep might have known this all along.
