There is a frailty to Manchester City that is being ruthlessly exposed | OneFootball

Manchester City were ruthlessly dismantled by Sporting Lisbon in the second half of their 4-1 loss last night. After a good first-half display from Pep Guardiola’s side, two goals in the opening three minutes of the second half undid all of City’s work in the first half. Come the final whistle it didn’t get any better as Manchester City slumped to a 4-1 defeat. Come the final whistle all of the warning signs from City’s previous games had been exposed. There is a frailty to this City side, and it was laid bare for all to see last night.

Where Manchester City have struggled this season is against teams that break with pace and precision. Fulham showed that during City’s 3-2 win at the Etihad last month. It was on display during City’s defeat to Bournemouth last Saturday. It has been on display in the vast majority of City’s games this season. But Ruben Amorim’s side took that to another level last night. With Viktor Gyökeres hitting a hat trick the world champions had no answer to an issue that has plagued them all season. Yes, the hosts benefitted from two penalties, but how they got in those positions is the issue. How Pep Guardiola fixes it is the question at the moment.

The problem tends to begin when City loses possession in midfield or in the final third. Once City lose possession, they have a hard time getting back. With Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol pushing forward or into midfield as inverted full-backs when City loses possession, the defence is exposed. City’s midfield is too slow and unable to get back defensively. This problem has persisted this season. Teams can get at the City defence or in behind the champions with ease. Sporting with their pace and the lethal Viktor Gyökeres up front exposed this flaw. There doesn’t appear to be a simple fix to this issue for Pep Guardiola.

Perhaps losing Rodri has further highlighted this issue. City’s midfield general would always be back defensively to help his team. His positioning and all-around game is world class. Hence why he won the Ballon d’Or. But he won’t be part of the solution to the issue for this season. Perhaps a player like Matheus Nunes, with his pace, can drop into City’s midfield. He has played as a midfielder for the majority of his career. Maybe it’s time to shift Nunes centrally to cover this newfound frailty in Manchester City’s set-up.

Speaking with Football on TNT after his team’s resounding loss Bernardo Silva said Manchester City were in a dark place right now. But he did add that it’s up to City’s players and staff to resolve the issues. He said: “We’re in a bit of a dark place right now, and everything looks to be going in the wrong way. Even when we play well we don’t score our chances, and we, concede too easily.

“So definitely we need to look inside to check what we’re not doing well a,nd get better very quickly otherwise it will be difficult to come back from these losses.”

It isn’t the end of Manchester City’s season when they do lose games. That’s part and parcel of football. It is bound to happen over the course of a season. But when one particular frailty is exposed time and time again that is a problem. It needs to be rectified as soon as possible for Manchester City to return to winning ways. How it gets resolved is now something to watch for starting this weekend against Brighton.