Manchester City are currently in relegation form and there is little sign of it ending.
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa left them joint bottom of the form table over the past eight games with just Southampton for company.
Saints, at the foot of the Premier League, have the same number of points, four, as City over their past eight matches having won one, drawn one and lost six – the same record as the floundering champions.
And if Southampton – who appointed Ivan Juric as their new manager on Saturday – get at least a point at Fulham on Sunday, City will be on the worst run in the division.
Even Wolves, who sacked boss Gary O’Neil last Sunday and replaced him with Vitor Pereira, have earned double the number of points during the same period having played a game fewer.
They are damning statistics for Pep Guardiola, even if he does have some mitigating circumstances with injuries to Ederson, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias – who all missed the loss at Villa Park – and the long-term loss of midfield powerhouse Rodri.
Guardiola was happy with Saturday’s performance, despite defeat in Birmingham, but there is little solace to take at slipping further out of the title race.
He may have needed to field a half-fit Manuel Akanji and John Stones at Villa Park but that does not account for City looking a shadow of their former selves.
That does not justify the error Josko Gvardiol made to gift Jhon Duran a golden chance inside the first 20 seconds, or £100m man Jack Grealish again failing to have an impact on a game.
There may be legitimate reasons for City’s drop off, whether that be injuries, mental fatigue or just simply a team coming to the end of its lifecycle, but their form, which has plunged off a cliff edge, would have been unthinkable as they strolled to a fourth straight title last season.
“The worrying thing is the number of goals conceded,” said ex-England captain Alan Shearer on BBC Match of the Day.
“The number of times they were opened up because of the lack of protection and legs in midfield was staggering. There are so many things that are wrong at this moment in time.”
Afterwards Guardiola was calm, so much so it was difficult to hear him in the news conference, a contrast to the frustrated figure he cut on the touchline.
He said: “It depends on us. The solution is bring the players back. We have just one central defender fit, that is difficult. We are going to try next game – another opportunity and we don’t think much further than that.
“Of course there are more reasons. We concede the goals we don’t concede in the past, we [don’t] score the goals we score in the past. Football is not just one reason. There are a lot of little factors.
“Last season we won the Premier League, but we came here and lost. We have to think positive and I have incredible trust in the guys. Some of them have incredible pride and desire to do it. We have to find a way, step by step, sooner or later to find a way back.”
Villa boss Unai Emery highlighted City’s frailties, saying he felt Villa could seize on the visitors’ lack of belief.
“Manchester City are a little bit under the confidence they have normally,” he said. “The second half was different, we dominated and we scored. Through those circumstances they were feeling worse than even in the first half.”
(BBC Sports)
