Manchester City‘s recent run of bad form has seen them drop from title favourites to five points off the top spot in just a matter of weeks as Pep Guardiola looks to reimagine his tactical set-up yet again over the coming months.
Four defeats in a row, including a 4-1 hammering away to Sporting CP in the Champions League, have left the Cityzens in unfamiliar territory desperately searching for answers.
Recent news of Guardiola’s contract extension will undoubtedly provide a lift, although a core of ageing players will likely need much more to bring their performances back to the levels they have become accustomed to over the past few seasons.
City opted for a quiet summer transfer window with the ongoing court case against the Premier League swirling over their heads, signing Savinho and Ilkay Gundogan – who ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best central midfielders in the world right now – for a combined fee of just £30 million.
This was met by a wealth of outgoings, with Julian Alvarez and Joao Cancelo both leaving for big fees as Guardiola begins to overhaul a squad responsible for lifting each of the last four Premier League titles.
Germany captain Ilkay Gundogan raises his thumb during his side’s Euro 2024 match against Switzerland.
Former Premier League and Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer believes that much more needs to be done to get the squad firing on all cylinders once more, taking aim at seven first-team players who could soon be on their way out.
“Looking through their current squad, you’ve got Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Ederson & even John Stones who are all 30+ years old,” the pundit told Betfair. “So you could argue the bulk of their squad is in a state of natural decline.
“However, you could also argue whether a little bit of their hunger may have also decreased, because a lot of those players have been incredibly successful and I don’t care who or what you are, it’s difficult to keep going again, again and again.
“They’ve done it so many times now so it’s a big ask for them to come back and go again, and only time will tell. They also have the off-field charges that have been put to them as a football club to deal with, and the questions that are going to be asked there too.”
Guardiola’s side welcome bogey team Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad on Saturday as they look to avoid losing five consecutive games for the first time since the Spaniard’s appointment back in 2016.
The Cityzens cannot afford to lose any more ground on runaway league leaders Liverpool, who currently sit five points ahead after just 11 games this season.
