Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has questioned why the club and manager Pep Guardiola 'have not adapted" to the demands of the modern day schedule as pressure mounts on one of the world's best coaches.
The Citizens are currently going through their worst run of results in 18 years after losing nine of their last 12 matches in all competitions.
Man City's fragile confidence took another hit in Saturday's 2-1 away defeat against Aston Villa, leaving them in seventh place in the Premier League table.
The defending champions are now 12 points adrift of leaders Liverpool and McInerney believes that there is no quick fix to get the team out of their current slump.
"I'm not going to moan about Pep ever. Pep's a legend," McInerney told Sports Mole. "He's got so much credit in the bank it's ridiculous, it's overflowing, but he's said some things recently... he keeps talking about 'how does this change?' and he says 'I want my players back'.
"He's talking about the injuries and there's an element of wanting his players back metaphorically as well, to be themselves, I get that, but he's always linked it to injuries and at some point I start to feel, if you're constantly talking about we're going to be basically naff until those players come back, and he said this is the season to suffer, what's that saying about the players on the pitch?
'The players are exhausted and tired'
"I understand behind the scenes would be different, he's not saying 'good job guys', he's going to be trying to improve, but it's almost like there's a public acceptance that we're going to struggle an awful lot and there's going to be a lot of bad results. And that's the reality, and I don't want him to pretend otherwise, but as soon as you start to publicly acknowledge that, do the players believe it too? And if the players believe it too, does that then become the reality?
"I don't think there is an obvious solution, and I worry that too many know it, including the players and Pep themselves. And if you know that, you don't believe then. There's a really negative cycle there and I think a lot of it's psychological.
"It's definitely fitness-related too; these players are tired, they're exhausted and some of these players just aren't fit - they can run but they're not training, they're just turning up and playing football games, and I know behind the scenes Guardiola will be trying to improve and trying new things, but the messaging and what the players are saying, it just feels concerning.
"I feel the only way things are going to change is by a very drastic solution. This is like a dam that's burst, it's not like a little hairline fracture on the side of a river bank, it's absolutely burst."
Guardiola began the season answering questions about his future as a result of entering the final year of his contract.
Is Guardiola's job under threat?
The former Barcelona boss appeared to alleviate those questions when he penned a new deal in November to extend his stay until 2027.
However, there now seems to be growing pressure on Guardiola, raising the unthinkable scenario that Man City may be better off parting ways with the 53-year-old.
But McInerney feels that Guardiola should be given time to turn things around due to the success that he has brought to the club.
"For me it doesn't until he has the tools," McInerney said. "I look at Liverpool's midfield and you've got Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, they're all mid to early 20s, they're all young, they've all got legs and energy.
"I look at City's and it's Kovacic, Bernardo, who are in their 30s, Gundogan, De Bruyne are in their 30s, it just doesn't feel fit for purpose. The league is more physical, it's more quality than ever - you've got Bournemouth signing players from Porto, Barcelona and Juventus this summer. There's such a high quality in the Premier League that you have to have that energy and that physicality, and City haven't got that, we just haven't got it.
"So I think until Guardiola is proven to not be able to do it with that kind of player, then I think you'd be crazy to let him go. He's won so much, but he does require quality footballers. It's the whole 'you can't put Lewis Hamilton in a Skoda and expect him to win' debate. He has to be in a great car to harness his talents and I think Guardiola needs highly technical footballers who are smart and who obviously can run because that's what football in 2024 - soon to be 2025 demands.
'Midfield is crucial for Guardiola'
"Guardiola has earned the right, by a billion times - by a billion pounds, you could argue, given the money spent over the past 10 years - to have another go, and if he signs players, does the rebuild that's been overdue for a while, post-treble, arguably, and then it still doesn't work, then yeah, but at this point, it feels silly not to give him a chance to do that.
"You need to fix the mistakes that they've made over the past few years in terms of not plugging certain holes, getting midfield targets wrong... you cannot get midfield targets wrong under Guardiola, that's a fundamental.
"If Guardiola's midfield is great, the team is great, it's that simple. Everything runs through the heart of that midfield, which is probably why if Rodri's here, we're probably still much better, because he's a genius.
"So I don't think Guardiola goes, I don't think you force him out, I think you just accept that the guy needs tools for purpose, because what he's got right now, unfortunately, there's only so much you can get from them, and he's pretty much done that.
"You'd be silly to get rid of Pep before you got rid of some of these players anyway, because Pep has won an insane amount of trophies for Manchester City Football Club. So that is a solution for me. We need new players anyway, even with Guardiola or another manager.
Man City's small squad problem
While McInerney believes that Guardiola should not be sacked, he has questioned his failure to adapt his desire to have a small squad to the modern day demands of a busy calendar.
"My biggest criticism of Pep... I don't mind him doing the small squad thing, if he's willing to use the academy players every now and then," McInerney told Sports Mole. "I'm not saying start every week, I'm not saying start, you know, O'Reilly or McAtee or whatever, but Bernardo and Gundogan are clearly exhausted, so 30 minutes here and there just to give them a little bit of a rest.
"You're shooting yourself in the foot, because this is why we're getting so many injuries. These players have been run into the ground every single week, and his logic is the senior players have got us into this, he wants them to get them out of it, but they just can't run.
"Guardiola said the other day that against Villa, at half time, we changed how we played to adapt to the qualities of our captain, which was a reference to Kyle Walker on the pitch. That is a very obvious and public admission, that essentially Kyle Walker can't really do it, or the team can't play with certain players in the team how Pep wants them to.
"If you're at that point, you're admitting that some players just aren't good enough. They can't do it anymore, and you're compromising what you believe in at that point. That's where I get frustrated.
"I would rather have a 19-year-old who can press, who can run, who probably has the hunger that a 35-year-old Kyle Walker probably doesn't anymore - because why would Kyle Walker at 35, or Gundogan at 34, have the same hunger as a 20-year-old who wants to make it? It's just human nature. Again, I've got no problem with that. I don't expect them to be at their most thirsty, because they wouldn't be.
"So this is where you hear stuff like that, and as a fan, you sit there and go, 'well, why are you playing them?' If you can't do it, bring on the 19-year-old at right-back, who probably wants to be there, really, really wants it.
"So that is my main criticism. It's a very minor one in the grand scheme of things, but if you want to have a small squad of 20 senior players, they all have to be fit, they all have to be healthy, and they all have to be at their peak, and that's just not the case, unfortunately.
'Guardiola has not adapted'
"As much as there's a lot of quality there, I think most people would admit that Savinho, Rico Lewis, Doku - they're not world-class players, they are potential still. They're very good footballers, but they're potential.
"And I think most people would agree that Gundogan, De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, people like that, they're on the way down. So all of a sudden, you've named a third of the squad, that basically aren't at their peak, and then you lean on these people.
"Then you can name about three or four of them who are injury-prone as well - Ake, Stones, Kovacic, all our wingers are injured. It works if everyone's flying, and you can bring a Gabriel Jesus off the bench, Mahrez off the bench, or Laporte or Cancelo a few years ago, because they're all mid to late 20s, and they're all the very best, but this isn't City's makeup of the squad right now.
"There's quality there; I'm not going to tell you they're all terrible players - they're not - but it isn't the same quality as a few years ago. It just isn't. There has actually been a bit of a drop-off, so that's the issue.
"My issue is that City and or Pep haven't adapted to that, haven't seen it coming, because it felt really obvious from the outside looking in that we'll be playing until August this year because of the Club World Cup - there is no break anymore. You have to have a bigger squad. It's just a fact.
"The squad limit is 25, and City always register about 20 senior players. If you're going to do that, going back to the academy players' point, you've got to trust them. You have to trust them, because otherwise those players, especially the old, tired players, this is what's going to happen, and it's happening in front of us right now."
Tale of what could have been for Man City
While the makeup of Man City's squad is proving to be problematic, there are a number of their former academy players currently proving themselves in the Premier League and beyond.
A difficult pathway to the first team has seen the likes of Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers enjoy success elsewhere, rubbing salt into Man City's wounds as they continue to contend with an ageing group and players that are yet to hit their peak.
McInerney points out that Man City would love to have some of their ex-academy players at their disposal in this difficult period for the club.
"I saw a lot of these players, I watched a lot of the academy. Morgan Rogers has gone to a level I didn't expect him to, honestly. He looked like a good player, like a good academy player, but I didn't expect him to be this good - he's just enjoyed senior football more than academy football.
"Cole Palmer was really obvious. I got the receipts unfortunately, I really rated him. I thought he was going to be at least a Mahrez-level player, because when you play for City's academy side, he looked like a mini-Mahrez. He'd just skin people and put it in the top corner - he did it all the time, and that's frustrating.
"Cole Palmer is the obvious one"
"Then look at people like Romeo Lavia for example - he's another one where City had him, and he's a quality footballer. I know he's been injury-prone, but I'd much rather him at City where he's an actual six than having played other players there.
"Delap, he did have a poor time on loan, I can't deny that, but he was ours and that's the point. It's City's job to notice that potential, and he did at first. He was brilliant, setting goalscoring records in the Premier League 2 for the Under-23s, and he was brilliant.
"Then you look around, you've got Harwood-Bellis, who's an England national now. Once again, someone that City rated very highly, had on the books for years, and he's played for England, and he's staying fit, and he can pass the ball, and he's a really strong, hard-working defender. And there's loads of players around Europe, there's absolutely loads.
"Gittens at Dortmund is a City lad. Brahim Diaz is doing all right at Real Madrid now, there's so many. Some of these would be really useful in this squad right now, and Cole Palmer is the obvious one there. But essentially, going back to the small squad point again, if you're going to have a small squad, use the academy lads too. That's the point, surely."
Guardiola will have to find a solution with his current squad until at least the new year when the club could look to delve into the transfer market.
After losing three consecutive games in all competitions, Guardiola's side will be desperate to return to winning ways when they go up against Sean Dyche's resolute Everton side on Boxing Day. body check tags ::
