Ex-Manchester City defender claims this season was a 'perfect storm' of setbacks for the club
Manchester City's slump this season is down to a number of factors all coming to a head at the same time - according to former defender Danny Mills.
Pep Guardiola has endured his worst-ever season in charge of City, as the club's title defence fell apart with a series of below-par performances and consecutive defeats that have left them still battling to make next season's Champions League.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News, thanks to Poker Firma, Mills feels that a combination of setbacks has caused their issues and made it a difficult campaign for Guardiola's men.
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He said: "I think it has been not the perfect storm, but the perfect storms this season. There seems to be one after the other, after the other, after the other.
"I think it goes back to, once you've won a treble it's very, very difficult to push on again. Once you won the Premier League, you know, four times in a row, it's very, very difficult to keep going.
"There aren't many Olympians that win back-to-back golds, because it's a five-year cycle, effectively. You know, it's the first year leading up to that, but then to be amazing, to continue to be amazing for four years when you've achieved so much, it's very, very difficult, and everyone else is trying to stop you.
"So, it's understandable that there will be a tiny drop-off. If you then don't refresh that squad and competition for places maybe isn't where it was, that can add to that. I think maybe they didn't add to that squad because of Pep's contract issue.
"Because he didn't commit, City probably thought, and the owners and the directors and the sporting director thought, well, we don't want to invest too big in case he leaves because we know he likes to buy a certain type of player.
"Then, of course, you lose a couple of games, and you lose that invincibility sort of cloak. Then confidence goes, players pick up injuries, and the team then looks a little bit leggy. And all of a sudden, all these things merge into one.
"So, yeah, I think it's been a difficult season for City."
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With only the FA Cup left to play for, thoughts will start to turn to next season and what City can do to get back into title contention.
And while further recruitment could be required, Mills thinks they need to rediscover their identity first.
"I think they do need to add players. But, they need to work at how to get their players fit and get them back to those unbelievable levels," he added.
"When I look at Bernardo Silva back in his prime, he was one of the fittest players in the world, running Champions League games, all over the place, and incredible.
"Kevin De Bruyne was magnificent, you know, defensively. The movement intensity that they had with and without the ball was far greater in previous seasons than it has this season.
"So I think they need to get back to that first and foremost and do what they do best."
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