MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 15: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Manchester United FC at Etihad Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 15: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Manchester United FC at Etihad Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Defeat at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup was the start of Manchester City's awful run. It could help to end it, too.
With no cup game this week, City have a leisurely six days between the Manchester United game and the Saturday lunchtime trip to Aston Villa. Had City beaten Spurs back in November, it would have set up back-to-back Etihad derbies vs United, which could have been both a blessing and a curse given their current run.
Instead, Guardiola has the chance for something he has been desperate for - some time. A week without a game has allowed him chance to give his squad two days off, before three valuable days training with as many players as possible.
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He will hope that time gives the likes of John Stones and Mateo Kovacic the chance to return, while others who have been overworked can be managed carefully. Manu Akanji and Nathan Ake are still to return from injury, but three of the next four midweeks being blank can give those players and other time to get back to fitness.
Guardiola has bemoaned the lack of training opportunities, especially with all of the injuries. This week, he can drill into his players what he thinks they can improve on as they look to snap out of their inexplicable habit of throwing games away.
And to start with, he will likely look at the defence, held together with shoestring and sticking tape at the moment as injuries and suspension have decimated Guardiola's options.
It's up to Guardiola to find the answers, but the numbers are damning.
In the run of ten winless games from 11, City have conceded two or more goals in each of one of those ten games. To put it into context, City conceded two or more just 11 times across the whole of last season (59 games), and only lost two of those games.
And it gets worse.
When conceding, nine of those ten games have seen two or more goals conceded without reply, at an average of just 20 minutes apart. That includes seven examples of conceding twice in eight minutes or more. City are not just letting in goals - they're letting teams quickly take control of games with back-to-back strikes.
City have led for just 254 minutes of the last 11 games (25 per cent), trailing for almost double that time (45 per cent). It's 25 goals conceded with only four scored after letting one in at the other end. So 21 instances of conceding and failing to respond, resulting in 12 points dropped from winning positions in the Premier League and Champions League.
Guardiola says there is no confidence issue, no mentality problem, and that heads are not dropping when a mistake is made. He has to say that in public but will know it is completely wrong - and two of his captains have slammed their teammates for that exact accusation.
The defensive issues have a knock-on effect for the rest of the squad. Midfielders are having to help out at the back rather than go forward, or are making different choices because they cannot rely on the defence. Erling Haaland, for example, must feel that if he doesn't score nobody does.
Club legend Sergio Aguero told the Manchester Evening News this week (via Stake): "A team is a whole. You can't really separate what's happening on one side of the field and the other. Sometimes, when things don't click in general, every part of the team struggles.
"City has had (and still has) many injuries across the board. Sure, the team has a deep roster, but that doesn't mean the team is immune to the impact that has to the performance."
This week is the time for Guardiola to restore some confidence, make some tactical tweaks and stop the flow of goals going in against his side (quickly followed by another goal).
They won't start winning again until they stop the leaks at the back.