An unconvincing Manchester City looked to be on course for victory in the Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon, only to end up losing 2-1 in the final few minutes. That was City’s eighth defeat in their past 11 games in all competitions.
Guardiola was clear on who he blamed after the game, telling BBC Sport: "I am not good enough. I am the boss. I am the manager. I have to find solutions and so far I haven't. That's the reality.”
For the first time, questions are being asked about Guardiola’s future for all the wrong reasons. How valid are those questions – and can he fix City’s issues if he does stay?
Could Pep Guardiola quit Manchester City?
Guardiola was very clear that he has absolutely no intention of quitting ahead of City’s loss to Manchester United.
Asked at his pre-match press conference if he had any regrets over signing a contract extension through to 2027, Guardiola said: “Absolutely not.
“I would not be able to sleep – even worse than now – if I thought I was leaving when the club is in this situation. Impossible. They might sack me, that could happen. But leaving now, in this position? No chance.”
If that’s the case now, it seems unlikely that things getting worse might prompt a change of heart – and if things get better, then surely he would want to be the one to lead their revival?
Could Manchester City sack Pep Guardiola?
Guardiola’s own position seems pretty solid, but what about the Manchester City board? How far does his banked good faith extend, and at what point do they start to doubt whether he’s the man to turn them around?
At the moment it still seems ludicrously premature to dismiss the greatest manager of his generation, but the question is how long they would allow this awful run to go on before they start giving it consideration.
It’s hard to know the answer to that, because Guardiola has never been in this position before. This is the worst run of his managerial career by some distance, and so these kinds of questions were never asked of him at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, or at any point in his previous eight years at Manchester City.
There's a reason Guardiola is ranked at no.5 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest managers ever.
City have only missed out on the title twice before under Guardiola: in his first season, when the club still weren’t automatically expected to sit top of the table, and then again in 2019/20, when Liverpool were simply unstoppable.
That season, City lost more than usual – nine times in the league – but won the next game every single time they dropped points; it was a case of bad days more than an extended malaise. They are already halfway to exceeding their tally for defeats from that season with more than half the season still to play.
The contract extension only complicates matters further, making it more expensive to get rid of Guardiola than the relatively minor sum they would have otherwise had to pay out.
We would note, however, that the current City regime have only ever changed manager mid-season once before, and that was to dismiss the manager they inherited upon taking over in September 2008. Even then, they gave Mark Hughes over a year more in charge before replacing him with their own man, Roberto Mancini, in December 2009.
That makes it feel like even in a worst-case scenario, City’s track record suggests they would wait until the end of the season before making a decision. Even then, they will be cognisant that their issues cannot entirely be laid at Guardiola’s feet.
If Pep Guardiola isn’t the problem at Manchester City, what is?
Losing Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has been massive, of course, leaving City far more prone to getting caught on the counter-attack and removing a lot of their famous composure and poise on the ball. Any club would miss a player ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now
But it’s become startlingly evident over the past few weeks that the issues extend far beyond the loss of their talismanic midfielder. Watching City labour through the Manchester derby seemingly content to try and keep the game at 1-0 – despite Manchester United not exactly being in the best way themselves at the moment – was bizarre.
As the United game confirmed, one of the main issues is that City are relying on too many players whose best days now look to be behind them.
Kyle Walker’s decline had been noted for some time last season and throughout the Euros, and he has carried that patchy form into the new campaign. City used to be able to take a lot more risks than most teams because they could rely on Walker to bail them out with his recoveries, but he has often been caught out of position and slightly lacking in the electric pace he has used so well throughout his career.
Kevin De Bruyne was a bit-part player until very late on last season, missing the first half the campaign injured and then finding good form after being gradually phased back into the squad – but he has looked a shadow of himself this season. His deliveries into the box against United were woeful, with the only one that created a major chance – scored by Josko Gvardiol – only succeeding thanks to a massive deflection.
Ilkay Gundogan’s return from Barcelona was celebrated in the summer, but there should also have been red flags about City bringing back a 34-year-old midfielder they were happy enough to let leave only a year prior…to say nothing of Barcelona then being content to send him back. He has looked short of the required pace since coming back.
City have meanwhile struggled to get anything like their usual productivity off the wings: Their most productive winger has been Bernardo Silva, and even he has just one goal on top of his four assists in 21 appearances in the Premier League and Champions League this season.
Jeremy Doku has often flattered to deceive, Jack Grealish still doesn’t fit in, and while Savinho has shown some signs of promise, he is clearly not the finished article yet.
Other players in the squad – especially Phil Foden – simply look jaded, having barely missed a minute last season and then playing exhausting campaigns at the Euros or Copa America over the summer.
Add in Ederson’s loss of form, some injury issues, a sense that they may have lost a bit of that hunger after years of success, and some of their youngsters being short of first-team experience…City have allowed an awful lot of minor issues creep up on them all at once.
Can Pep Guardiola turn things around at Manchester City?
At the moment, this feels much more like the end of an era for this particular squad rather than necessarily being the end of the City epoch as a whole.
These kinds of issues can happen. Sir Alex Ferguson was famed for his ability to keep building up multiple generations of title-winning squads at Manchester United, but while he never had a run quite as bad as this after his first few years at the club, even he needed a bit of a transitional year or two at times.
United went three straight years without a title in the mid 2000s as they dealt with gradual decline and departure of much of the 1999 treble-winning squad, but in that time introduced the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Edwin van der Sar, who would go on to be the cornerstones of arguably Ferguson’s greatest Manchester United side of all.
City now feel like they are in a similar position – including having a manager reputed as the best in the world. The question is whether City or Guardiola have the patience to see out that kind of rebuilding project together.
