Manchester City currently find themselves 14 points behind the Premier League leaders and their dip-in-form can be attributed to a number of different issues.
The club have been hit hard by injuries to key players in key positions and some of the supporters have even pointed the finger at Pep Guardiola, despite all he has achieved in the past couple of seasons.
Is the end of the Guardiola cycle near?
Yes
No
But what do these fans believe to be the reason they find themselves seemingly out of the title race in December?
Injuries in defence and a pretty average set of defenders is to blame. It’s draining the confidence of the team as well.
Good news is, with good signings and recoveries from injury, it can be fixed!!
— Matthew Miller (@MillerMattu) December 9, 2019
Everything ??
— Barry Sharples (@barinho33) December 9, 2019
Lack of leadership on the pitch, lack of a leader in the back line, missing direct work work of Leroy, along with injuries and lack of proper full fitness and form of some players. Oh and VAR to top things off
— Jonathan (@Jonathanctid) December 9, 2019
defense and injuries are killing us
— Christian Landry (@cmlandry18) December 9, 2019
Not signing a centre back and Laporte injury has effected us massively
— Lucas (@LC0603) December 9, 2019
Too many injuries. And the refs hate us.
— Ngozulu Matondo ?? (@ajagbeadewole) December 9, 2019
What do we think?
It’s difficult to pin-point one standalone factor as to why City have struggled to replicate their form of last season and most of the issues mentioned above are valid points. In many ways, the club are victims of their own ridiculously high-standards having recorded 98 points last season and, given the way Liverpool have performed thus far, there has been no margin for error.
Injuries have played their part, as have individual mistakes and the demise of late has fuelled speculation regarding where Guardiola’s future lies but in spite of all the negative press, the club could still make this a season to remember. With the title race seemingly done in December, attentions can now shift to the Champions League – a trophy City have yet to win.
It’s not all doom and gloom at the Etihad and when the likes of Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane return, we could see a huge upturn in the Cityzen’s form and their season salvaged.