There is a lot going around Pep Guardiola and Manchester City as fans are seeing a not so usual side of the team and the manager. Manchester City have now lost four games in a row which has led to questions being asked of Pep Guardiola. This has never been witnessed ever before in the career of Pep Guardiola in all of the teams that he has managed. Man City have slipped down to second place and are now 5 points behind rivals Liverpool who are now sitting first on the table.
Questions Raised Regarding Pep Guardiola After Another Loss
Manchester City has never had it this bad under Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola has never had it this bad in his managerial career.
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A sense of crisis is looming over the champions of England after they lost a fourth straight game in all competitions, 2-1 at Brighton, and slipped five points behind Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday. Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 thanks to goals by Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah.
Second-placed City hasn’t lost four games in a row since 2006 — two years before the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club and 10 years before Guardiola’s game-changing arrival on the blue side of Manchester.
As for Guardiola, widely regarded as the world’s best coach, he has never lost four straight matches anywhere in his illustrious time in management that began in 2007.
The closest he has come was in the 2014-15 season when, at Bayern Munich, his team lost in a penalty shootout in the German Cup followed by three straight defeats — two in the Bundesliga, when Bayern had already clinched the title, and once in the Champions League.
An End Of An Era? Guardiola Answers Back!
So, Guardiola was asked, is this the end of the era, after leading City to an unprecedented four straight top-flight league titles?
“It’s what the people want, right?” he posed. “That’s normal — we won a lot. I would just like to have all the squad (available).”
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That won’t be happening anytime soon considering star center midfielder Rodri, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, is out for the season with an ACL injury. Guardiola also had his best four center backs — Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake — unavailable, while playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is clearly not sharp or fit enough on his return from injury.
“When we play bad, I am the first to say, ‘Oh, oh, I don’t like it.’ But I don’t have that feeling,” Guardiola said.
Indeed, City was dominant in the first half and went in front when Erling Haaland scored his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign.
However, like in the 4-1 loss at Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday, City couldn’t sustain its level in the second half and Brighton fought back, with Joao Pedro equalizing in the 78th and setting up Matt O’Riley for the winner in the 83rd on his Premier League debut.
City’s losing run started at Tottenham in the English League Cup last week, before a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the league — its first league defeat in 11 months.
For Guardiola, it’s simple. City’s squad cannot cope with all its injuries while the fixtures are coming thick and fast.
“We cannot do it every three days, three days, four days, three days with the (injury) situation we have,” he said, adding with an air of desperation, “I would love to have the players (back).”
City’s next game is after the international break, at home to Tottenham in the league.
(With AP Inputs)
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