IT is shaping up to be a long hard winter at Manchester City.
Their hopes of bringing a third straight Premier League title to the Etihad are surely over already — with Liverpool 14 points ahead of them.
2
And boss Pep Guardiola does not believe his team are geared up to win the Champions League either.
Two glittering seasons, which saw City scoop five of the six domestic trophies on offer, suddenly seem like a long time ago.
And one of the greatest teams to ever grace the English top flight are showing signs of wear and tear.
Their shortcomings were ruthlessly exposed by Manchester United’s lightning counter-attacks in the 2-1 derby defeat at the Etihad on Saturday.
And Guardiola said it shows why their tag as favourites to lift the big European prize in May is fanciful.
The former Barcelona coach said: “United have the quality to defend and the quality to attack on the counter-attack.
“You have to accept that but that is the level we face against Liverpool, United, Barcelona, Madrid, Juventus.”
It may amuse — or delight — fans of the Red Devils to be mentioned in such exalted company.
Particularly after their defeat to Astana in Kazakhstan last month.
But Guardiola went on: “The reality is maybe we aren’t able to compete with them now — so we have to improve, accept it and move forward.
“Maybe we need to live that as a club to improve, to accept the reality now and improve. That is all.
“We are not thinking to win the Champions League in this position. We are trying to win games, to win the next one.
2
“I am not thinking about how many points we need or how many points they have to drop.
“We are not able to be consistent like we were in the last two seasons so that is the reality and you have to help the players.”
Guardiola loves to find solutions to problems and one of the remarkable things about what he has achieved at City is that he has done it largely without a fit, recognised left-back.
Yet on Saturday there were too many square pegs in round holes and the champions were exposed.
Angelino — a player shown the door by City 18 months ago then brought back in the summer — had a rough night at left-back.
Meanwhile two full-backs who cost a combined total of almost £110million — Benjamin Mendy and Joao Cancelo — sat on the bench.
They were joined by Argentina international centre-back Nicolas Otamendi while Fernandinho, the club’s best holding midfielder, deputised in defence again.
City’s decision not to replace Vincent Kompany looked a risk at the time — worse still as Aymeric Laporte was injured in their fourth game.
After City’s first two title triumphs in 2012 and 2014, they failed to strengthen correctly in the summer afterwards and paid the price.
The signs are it is happening again — albeit after back-to-back titles.
And all this time one of England’s brightest prospects Phil Foden waits in the wings for the powers of David Silva to start to wane.
It has been a puzzling start to the campaign but with trips to Arsenal and Wolves to come this month, either side of a home game against high-flying Leicester, it may get worse.
Guardiola finds himself in a position he has never experienced before — miles off the pace.
He said: “As a manager? Being 14 points behind. No, it is the first time. As a football player, maybe. As a manager, no.
“The reality is we are 14 points behind for our mistakes we have done, for the quality of our opponents and especially as well the things we cannot control.
“That is the reality but we have to continue. Maybe it will help us for the future, so we need to live that as a club to be better.”
