Sunday’s home draw against Southampton left Manchester City reeling from five matches without a win. In those matches, there have been clear signs of regression from Pep Guardiola’s side, who started the season flawlessly.
After 10 wins from their opening 10 matches under Guardiola, City were flying high. The Citizens were the clear favourites for the Premier League title and had just dispatched Borussia Monchengladbach on matchday one of the Champions League group stage. Then came a match-up against Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham. Spurs put on a brilliant display to bring City’s lightning-fast train to a sudden halt. Guardiola said that recovering from their first loss would be the biggest test of character for his side, and he was right.
Domination against Everton last weekend came to no avail as the Toffees left the Etihad with a point their pocket. The performance wasn’t particularly creative, but was still deserving of a victory. The mauling to Barcelona did not reflect the performances of both sides and that definitely did not help.
The first half versus the Saints looked as though the Sky Blues were recovering from five marathons in five days – it was played at a slow tempo with many loose passes, including John Stones’ vital error which led to Nathan Redmond’s goal. Even City’s midfield players, such as Ilkay Gundogan and David Silva – usually the most accurate of passers – were constantly giving away possession and were lacking in confidence.
It’s a phrase that has already been used by the media and is sure to be used on countless occasions in the coming season – the ‘Pep talk’ worked. The Sky Blues returned from the break as a revitalised outlet. Kelechi Iheanacho replaced Kevin De Bruyne, who picked up a knock in the first half, and added more energy to the game. The emerging striker missed out on the European Golden Boy award on Monday, but definitely has a future at the highest level. His link-up play – what Guardiola loves the most – is arguably better than that of Sergio Aguero, whose future at the club has been cast into doubt in recent days.
On Sunday, Iheanacho sparked City into life and the whole team looked fantastic. The passing was fluid and it looked as though they were capable of overturning the one-goal deficit. Iheanacho levelled the match up after some exceptional hold-up play from David Silva but City couldn’t grab a winner. The creativeness of the side was as high as it has been during the five-game blip (yes, a blip) and City showed glimpses of how they played at the start of the season.
Guardiola and Jose Mourinho face off for the second time of the season in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, in a match where either manager will begin to come under pressure if they are to lose. Rotation is expected, but if the second half performance against Southampton is anywhere near replicated, then City will be back to winning ways very soon.
