The defeat was Man City’s sixth in their last seven matches. The only outlier came in the Champions League when City threw away a three-goal lead to draw with Feyenoord.
The ongoing absence of Rodri – sidelined with an ACL injury – is unquestionably the biggest issue affecting Guardiola right now. However, Rodri’s injury isn’t the only problem, with more than a handful of usually-reliable City stars woefully out of form at present.
When writing for talkSPORT, journalist Henry Winter insisted Guardiola must preside over wholesale changes to his squad if they’re to avoid a repeat of this season’s struggles next year. Winter’s headline read: ‘From Invincibles to Invisibles – Man City should be embarrassed and Pep Guardiola must address ageing squad.’
Zeroing in on precisely who must be turfed out, Winter namechecked three players whose time could and perhaps should be up at the Etihad.
‘Time has caught up with some like Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva,’ wrote Winter. ‘A relentless workload has temporarily drained others like Phil Foden.
