Can Pep Really Rebuild Man City After Their Worst Run in His Tenure?

During his time at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has enjoyed tremendous success, having won 6 Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup twice, multiple EFL Cups, and the Club World Cup. Not only have Manchester City been successful under Guardiola but they have been good to watch, with their passing style and pressing making life difficult for the opposition.

However, the recent defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League leaves Manchester City down in 7th place, 4 points off the top four and 12 points behind the leaders, Liverpool. This is unprecedented for Manchester City in the Guardiola era and the defeat to Aston Villa means Manchester City have won only 1 of their last 12 fixtures in all competitions, which is incredible. There have been 9 defeats in those 12 games and Guardiola faces the toughest test of his managerial career. The best betting sites have Manchester City behind Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea in the odds to win the 2024/25 Premier League title. That underlines Manchester City’s fall because it is rare to see the club behind three other teams in the odds to win the league.

Rebuilding the Manchester City squad is going to take time, and the owners are sure to give Guardiola all the time he needs to make the necessary changes. Injuries are a problem, with Ederson, Nathan Ake, and Ruben Dias all out and continued fitness problems for Manuel Akanji and John Stones. The long-term loss of Rodri in central midfield is also a major blow for Guardiola and in terms of defence, they have looked poor without the Spaniard to control things in the middle of the pitch.

The question is, what can Guardiola do to fix the issues, and will he make a move in the January transfer window?

Having his defenders fit and available for a sustained period would be a huge boost. Guardiola has been unable to rely on most of his first-choice defence this season, which is a huge problem. Kevin De Bruyne has been slow to regain his fitness and form and that has left Manchester City without one of their major creative players for much of this campaign. So, the first step to recovery is getting key players fit, available, and in form. That is easier said than done with a packed fixture list over the Christmas period and into the New Year.

One area where Guardiola could choose to enter the transfer market is central midfield. Mateo Kovacic, who has been injured himself, has been unable to fill the void but who could come in at short notice to cover for Rodri? Atalanta midfielder Ederson is a possibility, and the 25-year-old has been strongly linked with both Manchester clubs in recent weeks. Some of the other players mentioned include Martin Zubimendi, Samuele Ricci, Tijjani Reijnders, Leon Goretzka, and Bruno Guimaraes.

However, the options appear limited, and Guardiola may be forced to work with the players already at his disposal. There is still plenty of quality in the squad, but age and the number of matches played could be catching up with some players. Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Bernardo Silva are all at least 30 years old. With continued injury problems, it is not easy to rotate the team and that could lead to further fitness issues.

There is no doubt Guardiola can rebuild the team if he is given the time and money to spend. There is unlikely to be huge sums of money in January and it may be the case that Manchester City have to ride out this season the best they can, with the aim of a rebuild starting in the summer.

27.12.2024