PEP Guardiola has problems to solve. Late November is upon us and the bottom half of the Premier League table still contains Manchester City. Armed with a new contract, there will be no walking away from the issues, these are his to solve. The concern is that old failings have not been addressed and new weaknesses are emerging in a once flawless team.
The 2-0 defeat to Tottenham was the first time that Manchester City have failed to score in a Premier League game this season, but it was coming. The old fluency has been lacking.
The previous five games had yielded only five goals – one in each – and it was a real struggle against Spurs. This is a team that is used to facing deep defences. It does not show.
“It is just that fear factor as well,” former Manchester City defender Micah Richards told Sky Sports. “Over the last few seasons, City have had Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling. Now I look at Ferran Torres, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus, it has not got the same oomph if you ask me. They are top players but they are missing that cutting edge.”
Perhaps the problem is that they found themselves chasing this game from the outset. Heung-Min Son’s goal inside five minutes set it up for Jose Mourinho. A repeat of that mistake as City became increasingly desperate in their search for an equaliser allowed substitute Giovani Lo Celso to double the advantage in the second half. Game over.
There were many aspects of the opening goal that will trouble Guardiola. Ederson made the finish easier than it needed to be. Joao Cancelo failed to track the run. Aymeric Laporte was sucked towards the ball by the sort of Harry Kane run that City should have been expecting and the decision of Ruben Dias to make a similar movement put himself out of the game.
But it was the lack of pressing ahead of the defence that left Tanguy Ndombele with time to pick out the pass. Kevin De Bruyne did not stop the free-kick, and while Jesus and Bernardo Silva attempted to cut out the passing angles, Rodri did not close down quickly enough.
What protection was the midfielder providing in allowing Ndombele such space?
“Rodri is a very good player but he does not stop enough attacks for me,” said Richards. “He really doesn’t. Sometimes you are going to leave yourself exposed with the way that City play but Fernandinho used to mop up everything. I do not think that Rodri has quite grasped that defensive role. The possession he has got but the defensive role needs a bit of work.”
(SOURCE: SKYSPORTS)
