Manchester City lost their poise in possession and that’s cost them this season | OneFootball

For the first time in recent seasons we have seen Manchester City struggle this season. There have been contributing factors to this. Injuries, age and fatigue have all hit Pep Guardiola’s squad at once. That has all had a detrimental effect on City’s season.

But on the pitch, the world champions have struggled to play in the manner we have become accustomed to seeing from Pep Guardiola’s side. Out of possession, Manchester City doesn’t or is unable to press like they used to. In possession, they have lost their poise and ability to keep the ball. Coupled with City’s high defensive line the inability to maintain possession has exposed Manchester City’s defence time and time again this season. You do get the impression that the loss of what Manchester City does best in possession has combined to kill the confidence of the City players. That does tend to manifest itself into late collapses or the ability to concede goals in bunches. Manchester City’s one wood has failed and it seems that all of the other clubs in their bag have suffered as a result of this.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason for City’s sudden decline this season. It could just be a simple case of a host of Manchester City’s senior players aging out at the same time. You couple that with the constant injuries and fatigue that Pep Guardiola’s side has dealt with and it has all snowballed into a mess for Manchester City. What the solution to City’s current predicament is remains to be seen.

The fact that Manchester City can’t keep possession isn’t lost on Pep Guardiola.

Speaking during the embargoed section of his pre-game press conference ahead of today’s clash with Newcastle yesterday, Pep Guardiola spoke about his team’s inability to maintain possession. He believes it has cost the team time and time again this season as they are attempting to play too quickly. He explained: “In the past, we put together 25 to 30 passes, and now we are not able do it. first – tomorrow, do you think we can compete with Newcastle’s physicality?

“Defend, be more compact, defend with the ball and know exactly in the right moment what we have to do. Help each other.

“If you want to fight against Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton, Longstaff or whoever will be there, they are stronger, quicker, faster than our players.

“But in the years we won the titles we were not physically strong, but what happened? We won it, when Liverpool were bigger and stronger and so were Arsenal, we did it so what is the problem?

“Before we had the confidence to play with the ball, but now we suffer when we have the ball.

“I accept, when our opponents have the ball, we are going to suffer – accept it. But now we suffer when we have the ball – it never happened before. We were always confident with that.”

Summary

Manchester City’s inability to keep the ball in their usual fashion has cost them dearly this season. It is just another part of their game that has let them down this season. It remains unclear if Pep Guardiola can solve the issue with the players currently at his disposal. But you do feel that he must find a solution for the remainder of this season. Manchester City can’t continue on on the pitch in the manner we have seen this season. Too many of City’s opponents have figured how to get at them and if the issue isn’t rectified it may cost City dearly over the final stages of this season.