Manchester City players know exactly what is going wrong right now, insists Ilkay Gundogan | OneFootball

Ilkay Gundogan has insisted that while the poor run of form has continued for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s squad knows exactly what is going wrong.

It was yet more disappointment for the club in European competition on Wednesday night as they fell to 22nd in the league table of Europe’s premier club competition, putting them at serious risk of an exit from the UEFA Champions League entirely.

After a largely lacklustre first-half that saw Erling Haaland register City’s only clear chance on goal, Dusan Vlahovic would provide the ultimate punishment as he capitalised on more sloppy defending from Guardiola’s rearguard.

Technology would approve the goal as Ederson scrambled to clear with no reward, sparking City into life but failing to create too much more. Weston McKennie would issue the ultimate blow with an acrobatic effort unmarked inside the penalty area to double his side’s lead.

Speaking to broadcasters after the 2-0 defeat to Juventus in Turin on Wednesday night, Ilkay Gundogan admitted that Manchester City are playing matches that are simply not going in their favour despite some relatively good performances.

“It’s very disappointing. I feel like we had chances to score a few goals, but at the moment it feels like every attack we concede, it’s so dangerous. I don’t know,” Gundogan said.

“I have a feeling sometimes we’re a bit careless in duels, instead of playing simple we over-complicate things, and we miss the right timing to pass or release the ball, and just losing balls and they score on the transition every time and gives them counter-attacks and we have to chase every time 50, 60 metres back.

“That’s not what we’re built for; we’re built for possession, keeping the ball, being strong. And even if you cannot do anything in a duel, don’t lose it. At the moment it’s just not working out for us.”

The Manchester City midfielder went on to describe how much performances are affecting the mood within the squad at present, particularly in moments within matches at present.

“You can see that sometimes in one action we miss the ball, or we lose a duel and you see that we drop immediately and we lose the rhythm and they are able to break our rhythm with the smallest of things and they don’t even need to do much,” the German explained.

“It has such a big effect on us right now, and even more we have to do the simple things, and the simple things as good as possible and quick and clean, fluidly, and then it’s going to work out again.

“This is how you get confidence back, even in a game; if you miss a ball, lose a duel, by doing the small and simple things, you get that confidence back. And it feels like at a crucial moment we are always doing the wrong things.”

But one glimmer of hope for Manchester City supporters came as Gundogan admitted that the first-team squad know exactly where things are going wrong for them on the pitch, implying that it is being worked on in training.

“I feel we know exactly what’s going wrong! We know the reasons, and if you look at most part of games, even today, we actually don’t play bad! We play quite good, create chances. We just miss to score, and then in these games, if you give away one chance they score, it’s not that easy to come back, to bounce back.

“I just feel it’s so obvious what’s going wrong, it’s just finding the switch to turn things around because even though we’re not getting results, it doesn’t feel like we’re far off, at least in my personal feeling which might sound a paradox and maybe a bit stupid. But that’s what I feel, and as long as we don’t find that click, it’s going to be tough.

“The only thing right now is every player, individually has to question himself, what to do better, how they can individually sacrifice more to contribute, so we can get collectively back.”

Manchester City return to action on Sunday afternoon as Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United side visit the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League, with the hosts desperate to get their season back on track.