Man City told ‘stop the source’ as ‘worrying’ new details emerge – pundit
Noel Whelan has claimed Man City boss Pep Guardiola will be “frustrated” by his side’s recent inability to keep clean sheets after Arsenal pulled out a five-point advantage in the title race.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested “bad marking and lack of concentration” could be to blame for defensive standards slipping at the Etihad Stadium.
Man City fell to a 2-1 defeat at home against Brentford on Saturday (12 November) – meaning they have kept just two clean sheets in their last seven games across all competitions.
Guardiola’s side have already conceded 14 goals this term – more than half of the 26 they leaked during last season’s title-winning campaign.
City trail league leaders Arsenal by five points at the summit of the Premier League.
Whelan claimed Guardiola will be frantically working to stop opponents “at source” over the mid-season World Cup break.
He told Football Insider’s Ewan Kingsbury: “Sometimes you’ve got to put it down to the opposition.
“Pep may just concede that these teams have done their homework on Man City, and they know that they can counter-attack. That’s what Brentford did, because it’s their only chance.
“But it’s not the first time it’s happened. City are going to be tested – they’re not going to win every game with a clean sheet no matter how good they are.
“It’ll be frustrating for Pep.
“He’ll be thinking over this break about how they can stop conceding goals, and how to stop it at the source.
“Generally, it comes down to bad marking and lack of concentration – which will be a worry for a perfectionist like Pep.
“They pride themselves on winning games, but the first step towards doing that is keeping clean sheets.”
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