Gary Neville explains Manchester City’s surprise recent decline | OneFootball

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has discussed the surprise decline of Manchester City in recent times as they look to have fallen out of the running for this season’s Premier League title already.

It’s early days yet, but City have made a poor start to the season, currently sitting in 13th place after their 2-0 defeat to league leaders Tottenham over the weekend.

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This puts Pep Guardiola’s side eight points off the top already, with three wins, three draws and two defeats from their first eight matches, though they still have a game in hand.

The manner of City’s performances will be a big concern for Guardiola, however, with Neville pointing out that they seem overly reliant on Kevin De Bruyne at the moment.

The pundit also feels goalkeeper Ederson seems to have gone backwards, while in general the team doesn’t seem to be as quick to attack in the manner that they became so famous for when they won two titles in a row, including a domestic treble in 2018/19.

“The biggest thing for me is in transition,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“They are not as quick at getting the ball back. Teams are more comfortable playing a pass through them and taking a risk. City used to be all over you like a rash when losing the ball or would just sustain attacks – but it’s less than it was before.

“Ederson doesn’t look as comfortable in goal, he’s making mistakes he wouldn’t have made a couple of seasons ago. There seems too much reliance on Kevin De Bruyne. Something is not quite right.

“Pep seems to be searching for the right combinations. A couple of seasons ago you could reel off the team: Sane, Sterling, Aguero, De Bruyne, Silva, Fernandinho, Kompany – you could tell what was going to happen each game.

“I don’t get that feeling anymore that the fluidity and continuity is quite there.”