What Pep Guardiola could do with Fabian Delph continually yelling ‘It’s the basics of football!’ down his ear. It might enable him to finally refocus his team.
There is always an air of exaggeration when we discuss a slump for Manchester City. They still play fantastic football and are in a strong position in the Premier League, but after four years of unrelenting excellence, even the most minor setbacks might seem more serious than they are.
We may end up forgiving poor play patterns and failing to notice the fractures that could widen into chasms due to our reluctance to react harshly to mistakes and slip-ups. Because points were still earned in close victories over Brighton, Fulham, and Leicester, the issues in those victories were disregarded, but they are now proving costly.
City is experiencing a slump that may be its worst in years. Even when they win easily, their performances have a history of being somewhat unimpressive, bland, and uninspired. Since beating Manchester United and Southampton twice in a row in early October, when they also scored 10 goals, they haven’t played particularly well.
The Blues were dominating teams at that moment. The entire team appeared to have swiftly adjusted to having a main man up front since Erling Haaland was an unstoppable force in front of the goal. Although they lost some defensive strength, it didn’t matter because they still outscored teams.
However, afterward, something altered. Guardiola appeared to back away from the lightning-quick football that had been so helpful to City as they lost their opening game of the season to Liverpool.
In an effort to add a third player to the midfield, the manager started experimenting by reverting to the full-back position. The City midfielders ceased taking chances. They played straightforward passes as opposed to searching for Haaland’s barreling runs. To provide more protection, everything was customized to minimize risk and maintain possession.
However, it has rendered City boring. They are similar to the Spain squad from the final game of Tika-Taka, who constantly had the ball but accomplished very little with it. Numerous passes, but nothing cutting, nothing in the middle of the field, and scarcely anything forward.
Following the Tottenham loss, Kyle Walker acknowledged the problem. When asked what was wrong, he responded to Sky Sports, “For me, it’s about generating chances.” “I’m not being critical of anyone, but there are some things we can do better around and around the box to provide that obvious opportunity.
“Instead of enjoying excellent possession outside of the box, the goalkeeper makes a save, parries the ball, or there are seconds. At times, it’s necessary to have and land accurate shots.”
The difference is that City has the finest striker in the world, but Spain didn’t even field a striker until the very end, and as a result, he is now playing alone. Before the streak stopped against Liverpool, the Norwegian sensation had 15 goals in his first eight league games and 8 assists.
Since losing to Liverpool, he has gone scoreless in five games, failed to record an assist, and scored *just* 10 goals in 11 contests. He’s still impressive, but his rate has decreased, and it appears that he’s scoring despite rather than in response to Guardiola’s strategies.
It’s not even as if giving up the attacking vigor has increased City’s security. They can exert all the control they want over the game, yet they still leave themselves open to counterattacks and have frequently been taken by surprise by careless mistakes.
Some have questioned whether Haaland has made City worse due to their recent form and performances, and Jamie Carragher suggested on Sunday that Haaland may not have chosen the right squad to bring out the best in him.
![Guardiola's Dilemma: Can Manchester City Overcome Their Slump by Going Back to Basics? 2 Erling Haaland signs for man city](https://i0.wp.com/stadiumposts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Haaland.webp?resize=1024%2C576&ssl=1)
Image credit: Getty Images
But that’s not the case, or at least it shouldn’t be. We have witnessed the devastation City may do when Haaland is at the head of the line. During the first few weeks of the season, they were fierce. It was as if an already invincible enemy had been given a wholly unneeded new weapon, like a giant being given a light machine gun.
It was shooting, but it’s now jammed. The team has become overly complicated as a result of Guardiola’s attempts to solve a problem that wasn’t actually in need of mending. It might be time to take Delph’s wise counsel and tackle the basics if Guardiola wants his team to perform at its best once again.