Pep Guardiola has given a few reasons as to why he believes Manchester City can’t get out of their current slump after losing 4-0 to Tottenham on Saturday.
City are going through the worst period of Guardiola’s tenure at the club with the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham raising even more concerns.
Tottenham have proven to be a bogey team for City in the past, but the hosts would have expected to put up more of a fight.
A quickfire brace from James Maddison in the first half put Tottenham in full control and City never really recovered.
Things went from bad to worse in the second half as City failed to find a way to break down Tottenham’s defence.
Pep Guardiola has lost five games in a row
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Dejan Kulusevski then produced a piece of magic by cutting through City’s midfield to spark a counter-attack that was finished by Pedro Porro.
And Brennan Johnson rounded off the perfect evening for Tottenham with their fourth goal in stoppage time.
Guardiola cut a dejected figure on the pitch after the final whistle with his side at risk of falling eight points behind Liverpool ahead of their trip to Anfield next week.
And the 53-year-old partly blamed the lack of ‘balance’ in the squad after the international break.
“We do not expect opponents to not create chances and score goals. We’re in the moment,” he said. “We started really well, we had chances and after the first time they arrive we concede. Then it’s a bit more difficult to come back.
“Chances were there. The moment they create the chances the build-up, we couldn’t handle the duels like normally. Now we’re struggling a little bit.
“It cannot happen. When you play top level teams we can concede chances but it’s part of the porcess. In our situation it’s a bit tougher.
“I have to see the situation. The players came back late [from internationals]. There were a few reasons we’re not able to be consistent. Now the balance is not in the right moment. But it happened. We have to do it, talk and on Tuesday against Feyenoord have the chance to try.
“Of course Rodri is important but we knew that for many months. But Stones can only play 45 minutes. Jack has been injured many times. Kevin, two months and five months.
“We have to come back and freshen our minds. The season is so long. Many things can happen.
“Before the game I didn’t know what will happen today. So I don’t know what will happen at Anfield. Everyone knows the situation is new for us. We struggled more without the ball. I don’t know how many chances we created. Our game was there.”
Manchester City might fall eight points behind Liverpool
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Jamie Redknapp feels City are simply not doing enough to make it tougher for teams they’re facing in the midst of their current injury crisis.
Rodri is unlikely to feature again this season while Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Dias were also missing against Spurs.
But Redknapp also feels City are missing someone like Julian Alvarez to come off the bench and provide a spark when things aren’t going right.
“Man City are too easy to play against,” he said.
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“Everyone will talk about Rodri because of the impact that he has but it isn’t just him.
“There’s Kovacic, Ruben Dias, who is a leader in the back four, they miss him.
“De Bruyne is in and out of the team – not at his best.
“[Julian] Alvarez is a massive blow to this team where you could bring him on. Man City are off it, they are short. Things aren’t quite clicking.”