Manchester City have, remarkably, lost four Premier League matches in succession and currently find themselves outside of the top four in fifth place.
The Citizens, who have also lost to Bournemouth, Brighton, and Tottenham, were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool at Anfield in Pep Guardiola’s first clash with Arne Slot.
Goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah secured all three points for the league leaders in a game in which City simply struggled to compete at both ends of the pitch.
There were a number of poor performances from individuals within Guardiola’s starting XI, including summer recruit Ilkay Gundogan in the middle of the park.
Ilkay Gundogan's performance against Liverpool
The German midfielder returned to the club on a free transfer from Barcelona during the off-season but has, so far, failed to reach the same heights as he did in his first spell in Manchester.
Gundogan lined up alongside Bernardo Silva in midfield at Anfield and the former Borussia Dortmund maestro did not have an impact on the match in or out of possession.
The veteran came off the pitch in the 58th minute with just one duel won, out of two contested, and zero tackles, zero blocks, and one interception. This shows that he struggled to get near the Liverpool midfield to break up play and regain control for the Citizens.
He also failed to register any shots on goal and did not create a single chance for his team, from 45 touches, which illustrates his lack of impact in possession.
Gundogan is not the only Manchester City player who should be ruthlessly ditched from the starting XI by Guardiola, though, as Matheus Nunes should also be dropped.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
Why Matheus Nunes should be dropped
The Portuguese star was selected to start on the left flank in the 4-2-3-1 set-up and was tasked with getting at Trent Alexander-Arnold on that side.
Unfortunately, however, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man failed to cause the England international any real problems throughout the match.
He only completed one of his three dribble attempts and lost a whopping 88% of his duels, whilst Trent made four tackles in total, and this shows that the forward was a liability from a physical perspective, as Liverpool players found it far too easy to get the better of him.
Minutes
57
Shots
0
Key passes
0
Dribbles completed
1/3
Duels won
1/8
As you can see in the table above, Nunes did not create a single chance for his teammates and did not register any efforts on goal from the left wing, much like Gundogan in the middle of the park.
The two players, on the pitch to provide quality in possession, combined for zero shots and zero chances created in their time on the pitch at Anfield, which contributed to the team’s lack of penetration to create openings for Erling Haaland.
Therefore, Guardiola must ruthlessly ditch the two Man City duds ahead of the club’s clash with Nottingham Forest at The Etihad on Wednesday night.
Man City keeping tabs on "spectacular" next Ballack who may replace Rodri
Guardiola desperately needs reinforcements.
ByTom CunninghamNov 29, 2024
