De Bruyne’s fading fitness levels
Kevin De Bruyne had to wait until the 74th minute to be introduced against Tottenham, by which point the outcome had become a foregone conclusion. During the run of five consecutive defeats which has thrown Manchester City’s season into disarray, he has only been able to play a total of 38 minutes.
His lack of fitness, as he struggles to fully recover from a hamstring injury suffered in September, is a major headache for Pep Guardiola. City were able to cope without him for much of last season but it’s a different story with Rodri also absent from their midfield.
De Bruyne has not started a game since City’s Champions League opener against Inter two months ago. At 33, with more than 700 games under his belt for club and country, the workload is catching up with him in the form of repeated hamstring problems.
Guardiola will hope to have him available to start games soon. But, as with his cameo against Spurs, the worry is that it might come too late. The last two seasons show his body can no longer be relied on.
Nick Wright
Gundogan isn’t up to speed
It looked like the bargain signing of the summer. Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer. The five-time Premier League champion and treble-winning captain Guardiola didn’t want to see leave the club in 2023.
What do they say about never going back? After all the warm sentiment and good feeling of Gundogan’s return from Barcelona, the harsh reality is that – so far – the midfielder has looked a shadow of the player he was first time round in Manchester.
Overwhelmed in midfield by energetic Tottenham on Saturday, Gundogan was chasing shadows, most notably for the opening goal when he lost James Maddison. “Gundogan couldn’t get around the pitch today,” said Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp in analysis. “He couldn’t get near anybody and his focus wasn’t right.
“Gundogan has to follow that run [from Maddison] and that’s really poor from him. He just couldn’t match Spurs’ energy in midfield all game.”
The touch and technique remain – Gundogan saw more of the ball than any other player and his passing accuracy percentage is well into the 90s. But can he still match the intensity demands of the Premier League?
Peter Smith
What’s happened to Grealish?
Jack Grealish is another who has been hampered by injury issues. His substitute appearance at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday was his first of any kind since the 2-1 win over Wolves in October.
He has of course played a part in a succession of trophy wins since his £100m arrival from Aston Villa but, on an individual level, his output has been modest, to put it kindly, with only 11 goals and 12 assists in 82 Premier League games across the last four seasons.
It is a lower combined total than he managed in his final season and a half at Villa – and that period included a three-month injury lay-off.
Amazingly, he hasn’t found the net for Manchester City, in any competition, since a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace last December.
Grealish has had to recalibrate his game under Guardiola. He is less of a maverick, more of a system player. It has come at the cost of goals and assists and that’s a problem at a time when so many others, Erling Haaland included, are struggling to produce.
Nick Wright
Walker’s defending under scrutiny
When you launch a podcast called: ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’ it is a pretty clear indication that one-on-one defending is considered a strength. But at the age of 34, Walker’s ability to handle those situations is finally coming under some scrutiny.
The sight of Timo Werner pulling away from him for the fourth Tottenham goal may have owed a little to the circumstances of the match but it was also alarming. The England defender has relied on that pace to get him and his team out of trouble for years now.
His top speed this season is 33.61 kilometres per hour – not slow but also outside the top 100 players in the Premier League. There is some noise in that data because it depends on whether you need to run but it is still a worry given that it hints at a decline.
The statistics show Walker is being dribbled past by an opponent more regularly so far this season than at any point in his Premier League career over the past decade. With City struggling to control those counter-attacks, they need Walker at his best. He is not.
Adam Bate
Foden’s slow start is dragging on…
In the opening minutes it looked like finally the spark was back. Phil Foden drew a yellow-card foul inside a minute and then pulled the strings in the build-up to City’s early chances. But Foden hasn’t been on fire for some time now and quickly the embers faded out as Spurs scorched to a huge win.
Last season’s player of the year has been anonymous at the start of this new season. After career-high figures for goals and assists last year, Foden has managed just one assist in nine Premier League appearances this term.
After being laid low by illness early in the campaign, Foden’s gametime has continued to be disrupted, with him pulling out of the November England squad before starting on Saturday.
Fitness, form, momentum – none of it seems to be on Foden’s side right now, when City need their main men to step up. When will we see the real, game-changing Foden emerge again?
Peter Smith
Haaland’s wasteful finishing
Haaland squandered a number of chances in Manchester City’s defeat to Tottenham, failing to find the net with his seven shots. Haaland is not responsible for Guardiola’s defensive crisis but his form in front of goal has dipped at a bad time.
Three goals in eight Premier League games might be satisfactory for some strikers but for Haaland it is a slump – not least because the chances have continued to come. His expected goals total in that eight-game period is 7.04. He is four goals short.
No player in the Premier League has underperformed by a greater margin than Haaland in that time. It cost them against Brighton and was the reason why they failed to find the net for the first time in the Premier League this season in their defeat to Spurs.
Haaland cannot take the blame for the four that went in at the other end and will surely start scoring heavily again soon as long as the supply is there. But his below-par finishing has been a factor in City’s poor run of form. Even he cannot escape criticism.
Adam Bate
Aging squad needs refresh
Many of the issues facing Guardiola come back to the same issue: an aging squad. Against Tottenham, nine out of 14 players used by Manchester City were 29 or older.
As noted on Saturday Night Football, Manchester City have given a higher percentage of minutes – 52.1 per cent – to players aged 29 or over than any other Premier League side this season.
It is only natural that certain individuals might be starting to drop off.
City only have a handful of players in what are commonly considered ‘peak’ years, between 24 and 29, and arguably the most important of those, Rodri, is of course sidelined for the season.
Guardiola insists he is ready for the challenge that lies ahead having extended his contract. The rebuild will need to be extensive. But for now he needs to solve problems on the fly.
Nick Wright