What has happened to Manchester City's ruthlessness?

 

No one does touchline histrionics quite like Pep Guardiola, but even by his own lofty standards, Sunday’s theatrics were rather spectacular.  

 

As Dejan Kulusevski rose above Nathan Ake to head home Tottenham’s late equaliser in a 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium, Pep not only sunk to the floor in despair, but ended up somewhere between flat on his back and upside-down on the touchline. 

 

It looks photoshopped. It’s an absolutely ridiculous moment in time. But in some ways it’s fitting that Guardiola ended up all bent out of shape - because that’s three Premier League games in a row where, for a spell, his Manchester City team have looked a bit like him. 

 

For the record, City are - by and large - still playing the best football this division has to offer. There’s three obviously excellent teams at the top, but while Liverpool have the explosive attack Arsenal yearn for, and Arsenal boast the sort of solidity Liverpool might dream of, City typically wrap in the best of both of those worlds: a brilliantly balanced team who exert calm control en route to wins. 

 

They’ve scored the most goals (36) and some of them, like Phil Foden’s on Sunday, have been truly sublime, enjoyed the most possession per game (59.1%) and conceded the fourth-fewest (16) in the league. It’s a good medium, the sort that gives off very strong title-winning vibes. 

 

What does not give off title-winning vibes, though, is the strange period in each of the last three league games where City have either lost control of the game, or taken “calm control” to such an extreme that they fall into a lull. 

 

Now some caveats do apply here. John Stones’ injury has been impactful, and Tottenham always seem to give Guardiola problems, as Son Heung-Min is basically lab-built Pep kryptonite. You can, ultimately, suggest City have been a bit unlucky on injuries, uniquely difficult matchups, and the fact they conceded three goals off just 0.5 xG to Spurs - in isolation, it’s nothing to worry about. 

 

But when you watch them, you can see it. You can feel it. For whatever reason, City’s killer instinct and drive appears to be evaporating when just one goal up. It happened against Liverpool, resulting in Trent Alexander-Arnold bashing in an equaliser, and it happened against Spurs as Giovani Lo Celso wormed his way into the game and struck home.  

 

At full-time on Sunday, City’s players, and most notably Erling Haaland, were incandescent with rage at referee Simon Hooper after a big error robbed them of a one-on-one chance to win the game. More than a few City fans were probably wondering where that intensity and energy was around the 60-minute mark, as they slowly allowed Spurs to gain a foothold and then score. 

 

 

The statistics of the game are quite interesting: City dominated the first half in possession (62%-37%) and shots (12-2); but from the start of the second half up to the 70th minute (when Lo Celso scored), possession had swung in Spurs’ favour (61%-39%) and they out-shot City (4-3) too. The simple, but honest, question is: Why? 

 

Perhaps that’s why Pep ended up literally upside-down on Sunday. Because he might well feel like his world is upside-down right now and he wanted to gain a better view of things. His football is built on complete control, but right now his team is letting control slip away during games. His metronomic midfield maestros are passing themselves into a lull, a daze, and it cannot be that when Jeremy Doku’s one-on-one gusto leaves the stage, so does City’s intent to attack, to punish, to be decisive. 

 

Fixes are needed - and fast. Aston Villa away is a fixture no visiting side has won since February, and that one looms Wednesday night. There’ll be no Rodri, no Jack Grealish, no Kevin De Bruyne, probably no Stones and likely no Doku. What’s the answer, Pep?

What has happened to Manchester City's ruthlessness?