By Duniya Jan
The Manchester City of 2025/2026 has not been the team many have become accustomed to watching. For Cityzens such as myself, the shift from high-paced, multiple attacker-centred football has been quite the disappointment. For rivals, it has probably been a pleasure to watch the decline of a team that would not just dominate, but thrash opposing clubs in their pursuit of never-ending silverware. From losing the Manchester derby to drawing with Brighton, the City spark seemed to have been muted. Though the team finally seems to have clicked in recent fixtures, it is too early to tell if this run of form will be consistent. What exactly caused this loss of form? I’ve got more than a few ideas.
Primarily speaking, the issue with City is the relative newness of the squad. As Guardiola himself mentioned in an interview, ‘70% of the squad is new’. Though the latest signings of Semenyo and Guéhi have been sensational for the club, not all players adjust to Guardiola’s tactics and style of play so easily. Players such as Rejinders have struggled to fill the shoes of former greats such as Kevin De Bruyne. Even the immense promise of talents such as Marmoush and Khusanov are still unpolished, given the pair only arrived in January 2025. I won’t bother mentioning Nico Gonzalez; he has somehow pulled the wool over Cityzens’ eyes as ‘the next Rodri’ with minimal contribution to the squad bar the trending myth of ‘off-the-ball’ movement and a concerning number of fouls. Even if we have some experience in the likes of Bernardo Silva, Gvardiol and Ruben Dias, chemistry between newly-arrived players requires time to develop; even if most are sensational individually, finding form as a team needs much trial and error. Less of Pep’s famous ‘roulette’ – i.e. his frequent squad and formation rotation – has certainly eased these concerns in recent times, with players being given more time to adjust and find the rhythm that produces victories.
Though controversial, I need to point the finger at Erling Haaland temporarily here. This is not to diminish his contributions to City; he is undoubtedly the best striker in the world and a complete menace when in form. But the condition of being ‘in-form’ is the exact problem. City have become overly reliant on Haaland as a singular goalscorer; indirectly, it has caused capable wingers such as Savinho, Doku, Marmoush and more to abandon their goal chances in favour of a Haaland tap-in. If the striker becomes injured or plays a few bad games, it’s game over; City’s disgraceful lineup of January results is testament to that. City’s strength has always been in the variety and verisimilitude of their attack. If not the legendary Aguero who appeared on the scoresheet, the likes of David Silva, De Bruyne, Fernandinho and more would pick up the slack. This being said, it is pleasing to see Semenyo revitalising City’s attack and moving beyond ‘Haaland FC’; the scorelines have been far more promising in this way.
Of course, a glaring problem until recently was City’s defence. After Manchester City’s match with Chelsea, both centrebacks Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol were left injured, essentially leaving a gaping hole in what already wasn’t the strongest defence. Nonetheless, the problem was swiftly dealt with; the signing of Guéhi alongside the remarkable growth of Khusanov, Nunes and O’Reilly have shored up the line wonderfully. There is no need to comment on the sensation that is Donarumma; he was never the problem.
These issues on the whole seem to have been addressed in the last few games, with Guardiola’s change in tactics allowing a diversity of methods in scoring. The Blues have managed to chase down Arsenal and reduce the gap to two points should they defeat Newcastle on Saturday. If they manage to hold firm on their pursuit, a victory against Arsenal at the Etihad should seal the deal in April.
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