Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have now hit a minor roadblock this season following their defeats to West Ham and Crystal Palace this week. The defending champions started the week on a disappointing note as they lost to the Hammers in their Round of 16 fixture of the Carabao Cup.
Despite missing out on probable silverware in the shape of the Carabao Cup, Sky Blues were expected to make a comeback against the Eagles on Saturday. However, the narrative at the Etihad was completely different after 90 minutes as we witnessed Patrick Viera’s side clinch an emphatic 2-0 victory over the Cityzens.
Against Palace, City were simply below par on all fronts of the pitch. They lodged half-hearted chances on their attacking end and were restricted from putting the ball back into the net. Also, the Sky Blues had put up a weak shift in the defensive backline and were often caught on their heels by the Eagles frontline.
With many critics singling out Laporte for his erratic defensive display, Guardiola refused to blame the Frenchman for the team’s misfortunes. After the match, the Spaniard was asked whether Laporte’s red card had any role to play in the defeat or not. His words were :
"It could be a yellow card, could be read it depends on the decision of the referee. The goal was disallowed – I didn’t see it but I imagine the linesman said offside but we didn’t lose for that.Source: The Guardian"
Manchester City need to prepare for their upcoming challenges
As of now, the defending champions are not in troubled waters as they have played some attractive brand of football this term. Their occasional hiccups will need to be addressed in the next couple of days as they are scheduled to face top-tier sides in the next couple of weeks, including an all-important Manchester Derby on 6th November.
City boss Guardiola will have to devise new strategies to put his team back on track. This season, the Sky Blues have tried their best to make amends for the absence of a proper striker, accommodating Ferran Torres and Phil Foden in the no.9 position. So far, this experiment has borne mixed results and hence it seems that the club is willing to bank on this forward duo for the remainder of their season.
Fair to say, Manchester City are still one of the ‘favorites’ to lift the Premier League and are also a decent contender for the Champions League. The Cityzens, too, had suffered a similar dip in form the last term but in the end, had raced to a Championship title, winning the league by a clear margin of 12 points.