Charlie Grace

Wed 3 September 2025 16:51, UK

Manchester City have endured a tough start to their Premier League campaign, starting with two losses from their opening three matches.

After match day one the mood was high as Man City blew Wolves away 4-0, with goals from Erling Haaland, and new signings Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders.

However, since then the Sky Blues’ season has been on a nosedive, firstly losing 2-0 to Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur before a 2-1 loss away at Brighton & Hove Albion.

City took the lead against Fabian Hurzeler’s side but a late defensive capitulation cost Guardiola’s side once again, as they fell to two late goals on the south coast.

Pep Guardiola under pressure

The international break comes at a good time for Guardiola’s side, but out of the break they host Manchester United in a derby that is sure to leave at least one of the side’s coaches in hot water, one way or another.

Talking on talkSPORT this morning, Ally McCoist gave a damning statement on Guardiola’s side: “They’ve lost the fear factor, they’ll be a better team when Rodri comes back, and is fully fit I don’t have any doubt about that.

“But, they’re conceding goals they weren’t conceding when they were at the peak of their powers, I even go back to the Club World Cup when [Al-Hilal] put four past them,” he continued.

“They don’t look as dangerous either, I still think in many ways, despite the centre forward they’ve got, they’re still trying to score the perfect goal […]

“They’ve got a great goalscorer, I think sometimes you’ve got to play to his strengths, his strengths aren’t playing one-twos and balls in the corner, it’s crosses into the box,” he finished.

Pep Guardiola has a squad building issue

Football Insider verdict

Guardiola has always had incredible squads at his disposal, from his mesmerising Barcelona to his dominant Bayern Munich, and then his all-powerful Manchester City team.

Yet now, the Spaniard is suffering in one of the worst spells of his career, and the 54-year-old may have a squad building problem on his hands.

Guardiola admitted he preferred to work with a small squad, which has it’s benefits but also can come with a degree of stagnation.

Squads need adaptation and rejuvenation over the years and Guardiola’s City side haven’t always had that, and perhaps that has lead to their underwhelming form in recent seasons.

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Cherki, and Reijnders undoubtedly have freshened up the squad, but equally they’re still reliant on John Stones, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva, many of whom have stagnated in recent years.

A complete overhaul would be unlike Guardiola, and continuity helps, but perhaps the City Group need to try and extract some deadwood from this side.