PEP Guardiola held six fingers up on Sunday after his Manchester City side were brushed aside by Liverpool at Anfield.
The gesture was in response to Liverpool fans who were taunting the City boss. He was showing them that he had led the Manchester club to six English Premier League titles in his eight years in charge, including a record four in a row.
The gesture was a defiant stance in the face of Guardiola’s worst run as a coach.
The six fingers could also be easily interpreted to mean six defeats, because that is how many Manchester City have lost in their last seven fixtures in all competitions.
The numbers are damning, especially for a coach and club who have been used to so much success in recent years: no wins in seven, six of which are losses, plus four straight league defeats for the first time since Guardiola’s first time as head coach in 2008.
During the dismal spell, the usually imperious Manchester City have lost twice to Tottenham Hotspur (2-1 in the Carabao Cup and 4-0 at home in the Premier League), and to Bournemouth, Brighton and Sporting Lisbon, sides you would bet your mortgage on that Guardiola’s team would beat comfortably.
Even the one draw in that terrible run, the 3-3 at home to Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League, City blew a 3-0 lead with less than 15 minutes left on the clock.
However, it would be foolhardy to completely write Guardiola and Manchester City off.
They are 11 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League table and that might just be insurmountable, but they are still in the running for the Champions League and the FA Cup.
While it is admittedly a crisis, the likes of which he has never experienced before, Guardiola and his players strongly believe they can turn it around.
In his years in England, Guardiola’s City sides usually peak around January, and if they do that this season and devote their energies to the Champions League and FA Cup, it is not inconceivable that they can win one of the trophies.
Guardiola and some of his men certainly believe so, in defiance of prominent pundits who have all but written them off.
WRITTEN OFF
Even before Sunday’s defeat at Liverpool, Gary Neville had seen enough to decide that something was broken in the City side, and it was not just due to the long-term absence of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, whose unavailability leaves a gaping hole in the side’s midfield.
“We’ve seen City lose the odd game here, but we’ve very rarely seen them outplayed in every department, but that’s what we’re watching,” said Neville after the 4-0 capitulation at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
“They look well short. As short as I’ve seen them since Pep’s first season. I’ve not seen them as bad as this, how they’ve been in the last few weeks.”
Neville won everything with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and he knows one or two things about a successful team going through trying times.
“He (Guardiola) will have wanted that international break to come, thinking it would be a reset moment,” the Sky Sports pundit added. “But now here, it further entrenches the opinion this is a City side currently in decline.
“It seems madness, when you think about what they’ve achieved. They’re easy to play against and teams are encouraged when playing them. The vulnerabilities are clear for everyone to see.”
However, despite low confidence and being in uncharted territory, Guardiola is confident he and his side will navigate through these disastrous times.
RESET
“Call me delusional but I have the feeling that from here we will start to build back to winning games and confidence,” he said after Sunday’s Anfield defeat.
“I want the team back, I want my players back… we will make a reset from here. I can feel that.”
Without Rodri, who in recent seasons has been the man protecting City’s defence as the attackers run rampage against their opponents, City have been leaking like a sieve.
They have conceded at least two goals in each of their last seven games, but Guardiola has stayed true to his attacking philosophy, even when there is no player in his squad with a similar profile to Rodri’s.
Some blame this refusal to change his style for Guardiola’s struggles, but the other perspective is that he has been club football’s most successful manager in the last 15 years by sticking to his beliefs.
So, why change because of what Guardiola believes is a wobble that has just been around for a tad longer than anyone ever anticipated.
It is the worst run in his tremendously successful career, but the dispassionate view is that he and his expensively assembled squad will eventually figure it out and overcome it.
Manchester City captain Kyle Walker certainly feels so.
“We know our recent performances haven’t been up to the standard we expect, and we’re aware it’s been tough,” said the England defender, whose form has been as poor as the club’s run.
“But we’ve been through these challenges before, together, and we’ll come through this one as well. It’s important that we all stay together as one club, as Manchester City, through this tough spell. Your support, whether in the good times or the difficult moments, means everything to us.
“We’ve won titles in the final games of the season, and we’ve made history with a record-breaking 100-point campaign, right down to the last kick. We’ve shown time and time again that we can rise to the challenge, and we will do so again. I promise you, we’ll fight until the very end.”
The ‘reset’ that Guardiola mentioned and Walker hinted at could start on Wednesday with the Premier League home fixture against Nottingham Forest.
But then, it might not.
Comments are closed.