Guardiola has never been so depressed: the causes of City's crisis

W.with After yesterday's defeat against Brighton, City suffered its fourth consecutive defeat, something unprecedented in Pep Guardiola's career as a coach so far. With Bayern, in 2014-15, he also lost four in a row, but one was in the cup in the penalty shootout: 1-1 Dortmund (and penalties); 2-0 Leverkusen; 3-0 Barça in the Champions League; and 0-1 Augsburg. Brighton's defeat is added to the previous three, which were: in the Carabao Cup (2-1 Tottenham); in the Premier League (2-1 Bournemouth); and in the Champions League (4-1 Sporting CP).

The league defeat, after blowing a 1-0 lead, came after a 4-1 defeat in Lisbon. City had not conceded four goals in Europe since October 2016 (4-0 against Barça) and broke a streak of 25 games without losing in the Champions League (excluding defeats in the penalty shootout) that Pep enjoyed since May 2022.

Pep had never been so depressed… but let's look at some of the reasons that led to him, before the international break and then against Tottenham, his next rival… and that could lead to a fifth consecutive defeat.

Rodri's absence is a separate chapter, since he is their most important player. Pep tries to find a replacement with partial solutions: Kovacic, Gndogan, Matheus Nunes… Going to the winter market is a solution.

Haaland dependency. Of the 22 goals the team has scored in the Premier League, 12 are from the Norwegian, who also scored yesterday. The injuries of Doku, De Bruyne and Grealish increase this dependency, plus the departure of Julián Álvarez.

Pep's last year.. The Catalan arrived at the Etihad in the summer of 2016 and this could be his last campaign, since his contract expires in 2025. This does generate some instability in the team environment. In addition, Txiki Begiristain, the team's sports director, will also leave his position and will be replaced by the Portuguese Hugo Viana.

Spine on the wire. Not only Guardiola's future is up in the air, but also a large part of the backbone that built the treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in 2023. From back to front, between 2025 and 2026, Ederson, Walker, Stones , Gundogan, De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are out of contract. Many contracts to be resolved that, surely, do not have many players with their heads where they should be.

For years, City was among the best squads in the world… because of the quality of its players and because it had a rotation that practically allowed Pep to have two starting elevens. However, Pep has been losing profiles in recent times that have left several positions orphaned. One is the pivot, with the departure of Fernandinho, who was never covered by Kalvin Phillips (now at Ipswich); and the second, this summer, with the departure of Julián Álvarez to Atlético in attack.

Pep always invents and reinvents himself (inside full-backs, center back as a midfielder…), but he has been in England for so many years that his rivals seem to have taken his measure in defense and attack.

Yes, despite this crisis, despite everything, City is (only) five points below Liverpool (they are recoverable) and the Champions League is still very open, as well as the FA Cup (Carabao is already out). So… the 'anti-Pep' should not be too confident, since City can still win the most important titles.