Demands a larger squad
©IMAGO
At the end of October, Manchester City were top of the Premier League and unbeaten in all competitions. Seven defeats from ten games later, they are fifth in the league and are in danger of being thrown out of the Champions League. “They fire me, that could happen if we continue like this. But go now? “No chance,” said Guardiola before the derby against Manchester United. The series champions are currently one of the weakest teams in Europe’s top 5 leagues – only the Bundesliga trio VfL Bochum, Holstein Kiel and 1. FC Heidenheim have scored fewer points in the last ten games.
“If you had told me a month ago when we were top of the league, unbeaten, the only unbeaten English team: ‘You’re going to lose seven times’. ‘Are you crazy? This won’t happen to my team!’ It happened! And maybe we can lose even more,” says Guardiola in a completely new situation for him. A crisis of this magnitude is a novelty for the coach of the most valuable squad in the world after Real Madrid at 1.26 billion euros.
It is also true that the Citizens have been hit by a wave of injuries. In addition to world footballer Rodri, who is out until April 2025 with a torn cruciate ligament, the central defender trio Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké and John Stones as well as Mateo Kovacic in midfield and Phil Foden and Oscar Bobb on the offensive flanks are currently missing. That is currently almost 460 million euros in squad value, which Guardiola cannot fall back on in the second-smallest squad in the Premier League.
You all don’t know the reason we know when we lose.
Second-placed Chelsea’s team has 30 professionals. Guardiola said: “Chelsea already have the squad. We have to have 25 or 30 players. How do you sustain this financially? The income for this will not be available, impossible! Why do we have such revenue this season? We sold a lot! Combining financial and team demands is tough.”
This summer, Man City was forced to be the only top team to generate a transfer surplus beyond the 100 million mark. Player sales generated 141 million euros, while only 25 million euros were invested.
Guardiola cannot deal with the mistakes that led to seven defeats from the last ten games as he would like because he lacks the players to do so given the club’s busy schedule. “There are things I have to train and practice to help the players improve. But when?! Normally when you have a game, the day after you recover,” says Guardiola. He then usually works with the players “who haven’t played, seven or eight players and those from the academy.” However, things are currently different: “I have one player! We don’t have time to discuss all the mistakes.”
On Sunday, their city rivals will be at the Etihad Stadium and Man United’s season is going even worse than the Citizens in 13th place. “I am calm because I know the reasons why we win and why we lose. You all don’t know the reason we know when we lose. I know because I’m there. I know the process, things that of course you don’t need to know,” said Guardiola, who extended his contract, which originally ended in 2025, to 2027 in November.