Faced with questions about Manchester City’s faltering title challenge, Pep Guardiola took the opportunity to remind us all just how many times he has won the Premier League in recent years. “Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserves it,” he said after City’s fourth successive loss to Brighton.
With 10 games of the 2024/25 campaign played, Manchester City are currently five points off Liverpool at the top of the table. Defeats to Bournemouth and Brighton have damaged their chances of retaining their Premier League title while losses to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup and Sporting CP in the Champions League haven’t helped the mood around the club.
Of course, City have been in this sort of situation before. It has become the norm for the Etihad Stadium outfit to start seasons slowly before rounding into form after the new year. They did this in the 2022/23 season when Manchester City went on to sweep all before them, winning an historic Treble.
This time, however, it feels different. It’s not just the top teams that are giving City problems, it’s every team they are facing at the moment. Brighton beat the defending Premier League champions on Saturday, but it was Bournemouth before then. Even in games City have won, Brentford, Fulham and Wolves have all unsettled Guardiola’s team.
Injuries have undoubtedly been a factor in Manchester City’s recent poor run of form. Ruben Dias and John Stones both missed Saturday’s game against Brighton while Rodri will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his ACL. Kevin de Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and others have also struggled for fitness.
However, there are greater structural issues coming to the fore. Mainly, City are vulnerable in defensive transition with Kyle Walker’s fading physicality a problem for a team that has relied on his pace as a safety net for a number of years. De Bruyne is another ageing player who might have to be replaced sooner rather than later.
Factor in that Txiki Begiristain is set to leave the Etihad Stadium as City’s sporting director at the end of the season when Guardiola’s contract will also expire. Even if Guardiola agrees an extension to stay in place, this season is starting to feel like the end of an era for the Abu Dhabi-owned outfit.
Hugo Viana has been linked with the sporting director position Begiristain will vacate next summer. Viana has enjoyed success at Sporting CP, but has never worked with Guardiola before and so it’s not unclear how the former midfielder would fit in at the Etihad Stadium. This could change the club’s transfer strategy and set a new tone for its future.
Some fresh ideas might be what Manchester City need. While Savinho and Ilkay Gundogan strengthened Guardiola’s squad by joining in the summer window, neither addressed some of the issues that had already become apparent the season before. When City needed defensive options and a deputy for Rodri, they got a winger and a returning attacking midfielder.
It’s possible City could turn around their season to win a fifth successive Premier League title. Guardiola might have presented the prospect of another team winning the title after the loss to Brighton, but he has also vowed to “solve” the problems that have afflicted the defending champions in recent weeks.
“This is sport. Sport is not always sunrises. It is not always good moments,” said Guardiola. “Today in the press conference I was asked if it was the end of the era. I know people want that. I smell it for many, many years. What we have done in these years, people have said it’s so difficult, but if somebody would like to beat us it is going to happen because in the next 50 years we’re not going to win all the Premier Leagues. It’s impossible.”
Eras come to an end and it’s entirely possible Manchester City are currently reaching the end of a cycle. Guardiola might still be the one to guide them into a new generation, but this is a crossroads and it’s not guaranteed that the Premier League champions will choose the right direction to take.
