'In eight years we never lived like this' - what is wrong at Man City?

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola looked back on the stunning 4-0 home defeat by Tottenham and delivered a simple truth.

“We have to accept the reality and break it,” he said.

Given he began his post-match news conference by saying “when you lose 4-0 there is not much to say” before offering his congratulations to Spurs on their biggest away win at City, Guardiola then spent quite a bit of time talking about it.

How, after so much success over such a long period of time, “a dip”was inevitable.

How “little details” were the cause of major problems, due in part, but not exclusively, to the number of injuries his side are struggling to cope with.

How his belief in the players has not been shaken because of all they have achieved for him.

But also how he will not ignore the reality of five successive defeats, something he has never experienced as a manager and City as a club last went through in 2006, when Stuart Pearce was in charge.

Nether can he ignore that Liverpool would move eight points clear with a win at Southampton on Sunday – with a meeting with City at Anfield next up.

“In eight years we never lived this. I knew sooner or later we would drop. I never expected to lose three Premier League games in a row but we have been incredibly consistent again and again and again. Now we cannot deny the reality that sometimes happens in football and life is here.”

Maddison stars as Spurs send Man City to fifth straight loss

How bad is it for Man City?

City’s current run represents the longest losing streak of Guardiola’s managerial career, and their worst since 2006 under Stuart Pearce

This is the first time City have lost three successive Premier League games under Guardiola

Guardiola had never previously lost a home league game by four goals in his managerial career

This is the joint-biggest defeat for Guardiola as a manager. He also lost 4-0 to Everton in 2017 and Barcelona in the Champions League in 2016 – and with Bayern Munich against Real Madrid in 2014

Saturday’s reverse is City’s heaviest defeat at Etihad Stadium

City are the first reigning top-flight champions to lose five games in a row in all competitions since Chelsea in March 1956

This was City’s worst home league defeat since a 5-1 loss to Arsenal in 2003

It was also the earliest City have been 2-0 down in a Premier League home game since December 2010 (19th minute v Everton)

Guardiola has now lost to Tottenham more often than any other opponent (9).

This was just the third time a team has won away against the reigning Premier League champions by four or more goals.

City had 23 shots in this game to no avail, their most in a Premier League game they failed to score in since a 2-0 loss to Manchester United in March 2021.

The stats show several areas – apart from just the results – where City are in decline.

City are being hit on the counter-attack much more than during any other season under Guardiola. They have faced an average of 1.17 shots on the counter per game this season. The previous highest total was 0.66 two seasons ago.

Four of Spurs’ five chances in the second half were from what Opta call a fast break – including Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson’s goals.

This season, excluding penalties, they are conceding 1.25 goals a game – compared to 0.79 last term. They are only conceding a similar amount of shots per game (7.8 now compared to 7.7 last term) – but the quality of those shots is much better with the expected goals conceded (xGC) of 1.26 v 0.8 last time.

They are struggling to cope with the absence of Rodri, the best defensive midfielder in the world and Ballon d’Or winner.

In Premier League games with him in the team since the start of last season they have won 78% of games when he plays and 50% without him. On defeats it’s even starker – 0% with him and 43% without him.

An ageing squad is not helping. Some 52% of their league minutes have been played by players aged 29 or over – the highest figure of any team in this season’s Premier League.

Their form has visibly dropped during the season too, with their shots on target dropping from an average of 7.3 in their first 14 games in all competitions compared to 4.8 in their five defeats -and opposition shots on target rising from 2.4 to 6.

Their goals for and against have almost reversed in that time -from 2.3-0.8 to 0.8-2.8.

Source: BBC