Manchester City season player ratings after a strange year for Pep Guardiola's side that saw standards fall before they recovered
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Erling Haaland of Manchester City celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 0-2 with Kyle Walker of Manchester City during the Premier League match against Leicester City
Erling Haaland celebrates with Kyle Walker after scoring Manchester City's second goal in the win over Leicester City
It's finally over. Manchester City endured on a different kind of slog this season and finish with no trophies but a place in the Champions League next season.
Things looked very promising in the early months as the Blues were unbeaten until the end of October in every competition and topped the Premier League in early November despite a season-ending injury to Rodri. However, things quickly fell apart as the squad were unable to cope with an injury crisis and Pep Guardiola oversaw 15 defeats in 30 games up to the start of March.
That kiboshed City's attempts at defending their Premier League crown and saw them exit the Champions League at their earliest point since Roberto Mancini was in charge. As bleak as things looked at that point, the team stabilised in the final months of the season and 10 unbeaten league games to end the campaign clinched a top-five finish while they also made their third successive FA Cup final.
Here are the season player ratings from the Manchester Evening News. Players must have started at least three games to be marked, so Rodri, Vitor Reis, Oscar Bobb and others do not get a score.
Ederson: He had his weak moments and there were also spells where he had niggling injuries, but he was also one of City's better players for large chunks of the season. Four league assists is absurd and he finished with a clean sheet at Fulham after three very good saves. 7
Ortega: Earned a spot in goal during City's most difficult spell in the campaign, although after his heroics at the end of last season it didn't feel like Ortega kicked on this year and played like a No.1 in waiting. Has a decision to make over his future. 6
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Lewis: Guardiola couldn't cope without him in the first few months, and over the entire season only six players were used more than him. His form and confidence badly tailed off and he was inexplicably left out for the FA Cup final after showing his value in the semi. A learning curve but a few doubts remain. 6
Walker: A disaster of a season for the former captain. Culpable for giving goals away in almost every game he struggled through before deciding in January to jump ship and head for AC Milan. Looks to have burned his bridges with Guardiola, who had fiercely defended him. 3
Nunes: The hardest to score. Regularly scored down in match ratings for brainless errors that have cost City important goals and points, and Guardiola suggested this £52m midfielder can't play in the middle. Despite that, he never complained about being used out of position and grew into the right-back role. Does a lot well, which makes the silly mistakes more frustrating. 7
Akanji: Played more than 3,000 minutes and Guardiola trusts him across the backline, but he missed a chunk of the season with injury and the team did not look better when he returned. 5
Dias: Another with a few injuries who did not look as solid as he usually does between them. Found his form for the back end of the season and the partnership with Gvardiol looks promising. 6
Stones: Only two players were more unavailable and the end is still not in sight. Scored important goals against Arsenal and Wolves early in the campaign, it is just difficult to justify him in the squad if injuries cost him so much time. 4
Khusanov: A rollercoaster debut was followed by an impressive month following his January arrival. No game time since the end of March has been a bit off, although in fairness he has been kept out by experienced defenders playing to a high level. 6
Ake: Missed nearly as many games as Stones and falls into the same bracket. When he is fit he is an invaluable first team player, there have just been too many times this season where that has not been valid. Guardiola wants available players for next season, so can Ake convince him? 4
Simpson-Pusey: An academy defender thrown into the team just as the season began to crumble. He fared okay, especially in the circumstances, and could be happy with helping Guardiola out at such a difficult time. Spent the second half of the season back in the academy but won the Under-21s Player of the Year on top of the team being crowned champions. 6
Gvardiol: Some high-profile errors and the Spurs game was his low point but he was always available and often excellent. Has made the left-back role his own and also looked more comfortable as a centre-back (unsurprisingly) in the final months. A player to be in the spine of the next team. 8
O'Reilly: What an impact. Not trusted to come into the team until the second half of the FA Cup quarter-final but helped to transform the season playing out of position. His future may not be at left-back but City probably don't finish where they do without his efforts in his first few months of senior football. 8
Gundogan: The comeback that wasn't meant to be like this. Gundogan was on the back foot from the start and quickly had every opponent steaming through him. He never went missing though, showing outstanding fitness for his 34 years, and as the team grew more stable his performances improved - almost like there was a link. 6
Kovacic: Another who is hard to rate after a season of highs and lows. Only two players scored more than him and he was good at the beginning and end of the season, but watching him dribble into trouble in time after time in the middle months was difficult. 6
Silva: Played virtually all season alongside Gundogan, and was asked to do more roles than anyone else - something he deserves huge slack for. His lack of attacking contributions have felt particularly hindering this year but nobody can fault the application and he is determined to stay and play after weathering the storm. 7
Gonzalez: Hailed by Guardiola as a mini Rodri after putting on a clinic in a crunch game with Newcastle, it was strange to see him used so scarcely afterwards. He seems to attacking to be a No.6 but there is plenty of potential there and he rarely looked bad. 7
McAtee: Guardiola belatedly realised he probably should have used him more earlier in the season, but then discarded him from the last three squads. A season of many promising glimpses but no one big moment that would have made his first team place secure. 6
Foden: A horrible year for Foden, pretty much right from the off. He has struggled physically and mentally all season and it has shown, with it more an indictment of the rest of the squad that he ended as second-top scorer. Badly needs a reset to get back to the world-class player that he has already shown he can be. 4
De Bruyne: Looked sharp and bright in the opening weeks before a freak injury ruined his season and potentially any hopes of a new deal. Fought until the end to get City to where they needed to be and got the farewell he deserved. 5
Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City applauds the fans after his final game for the team, following the Premier League match between Fulham and City
Kevin De Bruyne came off the bench late on in Manchester City's win over Fulham
Savinho: A year of fits and starts, where he could look unplayable for a few minutes or even a few matches but would go missing otherwise. Tracking back was either brilliant or terrible, and goal contributions weren't enough. He is only 21 though, and circumstances meant he played more in his first season than he probably would have done. 6
Doku: Thirty-eight appearances of fits and starts, regularly looking dangerous and beating opponents but failing to back that up with the goals and assists you would expect. Doku has all the tools he needs to become a sensational player, but there are still concerns - especially given his fitness issues - if he will reach that and, even if he does, when he will. 6
Grealish: He was involved regularly in the first half of the season but dropped off completely after Christmas, other than being weirdly picked for some of the biggest games such as Real Madrid and the FA Cup semi-final. He didn't do badly when he played, he just didn't play anywhere near the number of times he should for a player on his wages. 4
Marmoush: The brightest of City's January signings, he settled impressively well into a new league in the middle of the year and took on the difficult job of covering for Erling Haaland's absence. Offside too many times and not quite in sync with his teammates all the time but if he can tweak that the ceiling could be very high indeed. 7
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Haaland: Just the 31 goals - rubbish! Haaland is judged on a different planet to everyone else because of both the goals he scores and the importance of goals to his game. He was exceptional at the beginning of the season but his own levels dipped after that. As he admitted recently, everybody including himself just weren't good enough this year. 7