Pep Guardiola is in unfamiliar territory.
His Manchester City side’s current malaise continued on Wednesday as they were beaten by Juventus to leave their progress to the Champions League knockouts far from certain.
But the result’s place in their recent run of form makes for alarming reading.
The latest defeat means they have managed just one win in their last 10 games, losing seven games during that run.
It would be foolish to write them out of anything at this stage of the season, but Guardiola knows he needs to find a way to end this poor run of form sooner rather than later.
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on TNT Sports: “I think we are still going to be surprised given what they have done in recent years.
“They have been a formidable team, they won four Premier Leagues on the bounce, they have a history of being very successful.
“But we just have not seen a Pep Guardiola side in general ever be this bad. He has to find a way of galvanising this team and reinstalling some form and confidence.
“They are under real pressure now.”
Just how bad is it?
The statistics behind Manchester City’s recent run of form highlight that it has gone beyond a blip to become a real cause for concern.
- Since the start of November, Manchester City have conceded more goals (20) across all competitions than any other team from Europe’s big five leagues.
- City have conceded two or more goals in each of their last seven away games across all competitions, as many as in the previous 46 combined.
- They have conceded nine goals in their last three Champions League games (after four v Sporting and three v Feyenoord), having kept a clean sheet in their first three this season.
- It is the first time in Guardiola’s managerial career that he has seen his side concede more than twice in three consecutive Champions League matches (across all clubs).
- They have gone eight games without a clean sheet away from home in all competitions; the joint-longest such run of Guardiola’s managerial career (also a run of eight in October 2016).
After the Juventus loss, Guardiola chose to reflect on the positives: “We played good, really, really good.
“We concede few, some transition happened but I am so proud for these players. They give everything and they tried and now we live in this period and hopefully we can change results.”
But ex-Manchester City defender Nedum Onouha said on Match of the Day: “They found it very hard to break [Juventus] down and Erling Haaland himself was frustrated.
“To make it even worse there were times where City were very open. They seemed so stretched.”
How it looks for Man City in the Champions League
Image caption: Any side finishing below 24th place will be eliminated from the Champions League
Guardiola’s side went into Wednesday’s game knowing they would likely need to win all three of their remaining fixtures in the league phase to finish in the top eight and progress automatically for the knockouts.
But they are now five points off the top eight with six left to play for, meaning progressing via the play-offs is their most realistic path.
They are currently 22nd, with the sides finishing ninth to 24th going on to a two-legged tie in February for a place in the last 16.
However, City are just one point above Paris St-Germain in 25th and must go to the French giants on 22 January in what will likely be a crucial fixture.
After that they do have a winnable home game against Club Brugge, although a poor result against PSG would leave them under pressure going into that game.
“We have two games, we need one point maybe,” Guardiola added.
“You go to Turin, Paris, our three games away were really tough. You have to accept it.
“We will turn around, not forget that period, appreciate more what we have done in the past and what we are going to do in the future.”
‘Rebuild of monumental proportions needed’
Key to Manchester City’s success under Guardiola has been their consistency.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has rarely made wholesale changes to his side between seasons, instead identifying the main areas needed for improvement and strengthening appropriately.
But while that has been their biggest strength during their run to multiple titles, it could be seen as the reason behind their recent struggles, with Ferdinand suggesting “tiredness” in players who have had a role in City’s success could be playing a part.
In the summer they signed winger Savinho from Troyes and brought back midfielder Ilkay Gundogan from Barcelona.
Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin, speaking before Wednesday’s loss to Juventus, said a significant rebuild of the side is needed.
“It is worth considering just how momentous a period this will turn out to be in years to come,” Nevin said.
“Pep Guardiola’s dominance is done – well, it is for the time being. Manchester City will not melt away to obscurity any time soon, but the run of clearly being the best of the best in Britain is over.
“There is a rebuild of monumental proportions needed – and they know it.
“How quickly can this be done? Inside two years is the answer as Chelsea have shown with their recent merciless clear-out and restructuring plan.”
Injuries have played their part but other issues a concern
Image source: Images
Image caption: Erling Haaland has had more big chances (12) than any other player in the Champions League this season, however the Manchester City striker has only converted four of those (33%)
It is well-documented that Manchester City have been hampered by a significant injury list this season.
Oscar Bobb, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji are all out but the biggest miss of all has been Rodri.
Against Juventus City struggled to deal with transitions of play, and the absence of the Spain international means they have not been able to dominate midfield like they have previously.
“Rodri, people are talking about, but there is a bigger picture than that,” Ferdinand said in the build-up to the Juventus fixture.
“They have lacked the control in the midfield area. They have not been able to react to the transition as well at the moment. They don’t seem to have the security within the team.
“They have been easy to play through, that isn’t about Rodri, that is about the functionality of the team.”
Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott added on TNT Sports: “It is not down to one individual, but with Rodri I think it is the only position where the replacement isn’t as impactful.
“There is never going to be one thing that is the reason for great results or negative results. There has to be a combination of everything coming together and it is building blocks slowly.”
‘I question myself’ – but can Guardiola turn it around?
Manchester City’s bad spell – just like their good run of form – is not going to go on forever.
While they’ve not experienced a difficult run like this before under Guardiola, they have shown form for bouncing back emphatically after some bad results.
In December 2018 they lost three Premier League games and were 10 points off the top but then went on to win 18 of their next 19 games to overturn the deficit and win the title.
“Of course I question myself, in the good moments, in the bad moments,” added Guardiola. “I was stable in the good moments, I was stable in the bad moments.
“I try to find the way, find the win.”