Shay Given is now considering THE “crazy question” after watching Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City lose their ninth game in 12 games on Saturday.
The champions were completely outplayed by Villa in the 2-1 defeat, with goals for Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers either side of the break enough to secure victory despite Phil Foden’s late consolation as the slump under Guardiola continues.
The result saw Villa leapfrog City into fifth place, with City nine points adrift of top-of-the-table Liverpool, who have two games in hand over Guardiola’s side.
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Given is shocked by the speed and extent of City’s demise and is now asking “hard to fathom” questions of Guardiola while hitting out at his former club for letting four young stars leave the club, including one that put them to the sword at Villa Park.
“We’ve never seen this before, one win in 12. It’s just such a terrible run and lots of defeats in that as well,” Given said.
“It’s not like they’re having lots of draws, there are so many defeats in that run as well.
“I don’t know what happens next. Is Pep Guardiola under pressure? Is that a crazy question? Does Pep Guardiola walk? I don’t know, it’s just so hard to fathom.
“We talk about the age of the squad as well and Morgan Rogers has been the star man for Villa today and he’s ex-Manchester City. Cole Palmer, ex-Manchester City, Jadon Sancho, ex-Manchester City, Liam Delap, ex-Manchester City.
“They let all these young players leave the club and now he’s in a real rut, Pep Guardiola.
“Their legs are gone, they couldn’t match Villa physically, couldn’t match them tactically. They were miles off it so what happens next? That’s the question.”
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Given is adamant City must regret letting Rogers leave given his excellent form under Unai Emery, which has earned him an England call-up this season.
“He played well at Middlesbrough before he joined Aston Villa, I think it was £15m they paid for him and they probably thought he would be a bit of a squad player, with Unai Emery feeding him into the team,” Given added.
“But it’s been nothing like that. He has really stepped up to the plate. Today, against his former club, and you saw him chatting to Pep Guardiola after the game. He’s going: ‘You let me go!’.
“Every time you play against your old club, you feel hard done by, you didn’t get an opportunity at that club. He probably thought, ‘I’ll show them today!’, and he was brilliant today.”
Guardiola was asked about the decision to allow Rogers to leave after the defeat and said there was no path to the first team for him at the time.
“Do you know what happened with some players? It was a team that won the treble and the quadruple. Sometimes it’s the right tempo, the right time to give the chance,” the City head coach told reporters.
“Of course, everyone knows how good Morgan is. A lot of players went on loan or have been sold.
“But he was in that age, that moment, we had the players that we had that allowed us to create the most successful years in the history of our club.
“In that moment, sometimes when they arrive they are two, three years younger and at that moment there is Kevin in his prime, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling and sometimes it’s difficult. That’s the only reason why.
“In the situation we are in right now, of course these kinds of players would be with us. This is obvious.
“I’m happy for him because he’s a lovely guy. He exploded last season and this season he’s a really, really top-class player. England have another exceptional player.”