Trevor Steven: Man City are misfiring in the middle but Pep won’t panic
We all expect Manchester City to go unbeaten so when they lose it is a shock. For only the fifth time in Pep Guardiola’s eight seasons in charge they have just lost consecutive games, at Newcastle United last week and at Wolves at the weekend, and even in some of their recent wins, such as at Sheffield United, they have looked shaky.
They now face an important week, with two more big games which are also away from home, at RB Leipzig tonight and Arsenal on Sunday. Perhaps all of that travelling is taking its toll and they are having to dig deep, but either way Newcastle and Wolves have shown City can be beaten if you sit deep and hit them on the counter. It’s a good time to play them.
There may be a bit of second-season syndrome affecting Erling Haaland, in that teams have picked up how to handle him. Wolves did that well on Saturday by playing three at the back and leaving Craig Dawson free to man-mark him. Haaland will still have days when he scores three but it shows that he can be nullified.
City are also missing long-term injury absence Kevin De Bruyne. He is the central cog who brings fluidity to their team. Without him they have to find other ways to play and they are simply not as consistent.
That has placed the onus on other players to score and create but, Julian Alvarez aside, they have not done much. Jack Grealish hasn’t got going this season, Phil Foden has only shone fleetingly and new signing Jeremy Doku needs time to adjust to the demands of City and the Premier League.
Their biggest problems are in the middle of the pitch. Mateo Kovacic doesn’t have the creative edge of the man he has replaced, Ilkay Gundogan, while I am not sure yet what recent arrival Matheus Nunes brings to the side. Rodri’s suspension for the last two games, following his red card, has highlighted the issues.
Meanwhile, Guardiola has admitted struggling to get as much out of Kalvin Phillips as Marcelo Bielsa did at Leeds, so he has been no Rodri replacement, and City have also missed John Stones, whose switch to a hybrid midfield role was a turning point in their form last season.
For all of that, though, City won’t be hitting the panic button yet. The players are only human and Guardiola can’t get it right all of the time. I’m sure Pep will know where the wrinkles are and he won’t let it lie if there is anything that he’s not happy about.
Last season was immensely successful but also incredibly long. It can be difficult to go again, especially now that expectation levels in the Champions League have gone up. But they have walked the walk and their treble-winning campaign also had a few hiccups in the early weeks.
If there is a factor against them this year it may be that the Etihad Stadium doesn’t always offer the same sort of backing that other sides enjoy. The atmosphere at Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle is on another level and it sometimes feels like City win at home despite that. Teams can get a huge lift from the crowd and we shouldn’t underestimate it.
But I’m not too worried about their current form. I see it as misfiring, nothing more, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they found top gear again at Leipzig and got themselves back on track.
Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships. @TrevorSteven63.