Manchester City 1 Shakhtar 1 : Lethargic City

There was a lethargy on display in the draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League which needs to be quickly eradicated.

Under the management of the sublime Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have flourished. The style of play has been at times incandescent, as far removed from some of the football we played 20 years ago as possible. Fast powerful breaking, clean movement and incisive passing – teams were over powered through measured possession.

The last 2 seasons City have found extra gears and the ability to go up and down through those gears as matches dictate. There was an ease in the way we put lesser teams to the sword and became relentless in our pursuit of perfection.

But this season, things have started to change. There has been a blip in form, resulting in City being some 9 points adrift of the leaders at this early stage of the season. However, it is not the blip in results which is the primary concern, rather it is the factors underpinning it.

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The very things which have categorised this beautiful City side have all of a sudden become somewhat harder to achieve. The passing is less astute and incisive, making those moves easier to dismantle and blunting the attack. The attack which scored some 169 goals last season, spurns chances this year, leading to a surprising under performance against xG.

The defence which was mean throughout, is now perceived as slightly porous, rendered ineffectual by the media and considered as something of a soft touch by many pundits.

City are no longer first to a lost ball or misplaced pass. The hunger appears to have waned a little as time has passed. Not completely of course, but the margins between greatest ever and great are slim, and tiny percentages account for dips in performance.

No one is saying City are poor, but right now we are not quite the side we were and need to find a way back quickly to the passion which has driven us this far. Usually this is achieved through change and I fear it is a transformation which is needed to freshen up the approach.

Let us hope that some of that massive Silver lake investment ends up on the pitch in the coming month!