Pep Guardiola’s new contract won’t be enough to turn around Manchester City’s fortunes

MANCHESTER City are used to breaking records, but not the kind that were smashed by Saturday’s home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. By losing to Spurs, City became the first reigning top-flight champions to lose five games in-a-row since 1956. This is the first time in Guardiola’s entire managerial career that he has lost five matches on the spin.

All the weaknesses Tottenham exploited at the Etihad Stadium had been seen before. Much has been made of City’s weakness in defensive transition. The continued absence of Rodri has made the Premier League champions soft in midfield with Spurs more aggressive and energetic in the centre of the pitch.

The hope for Manchester City was that their team would return from the international break refreshed by the news of Guardiola’s contract extension. Instead, the Abu Dhabi-owned outfit fell to a new low as they were humbled on their own pitch. It’s going to take a lot more than just a new contract for Guardiola to fix City.

Spurs made Manchester City look old. Without Rodri to hold things together, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva were given the run around in central midfield. Gundogan allowed James Maddison to run off him for the opening goal while Silva lacked the mobility to match Dejan Kulusevski for 90 minutes.

Kyle Walker was another City stalwart who looked past it. The 34-year-old was left in Timo Werner’s dust as the German surged down the left side to set up Brennan Johnson for Tottenham’s fourth goal. It’s difficult to imagine Walker not handling that situation better a couple seasons ago.

🔵❗️ Pep Guardiola tells Ziggo: “Just give me my players back… you will see!”.

“It's difficult when you have to play without 4 central defenders, 2 holding midfielders, the best player in the world Rodri out, 3 wingers out, just give me my players back… you’ll see Man City!”. pic.twitter.com/D4ZOCiiP3g

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 26, 2024

City’s recent struggles throw into focus the job done by the club’s front office in recent seasons. While Txiki Begiristain is widely considered one of the best sporting directors in the sport, his departure at the end of the season might come at a good time for the Premier League champions. They need some fresh ideas.

They need a long-term replacement for Walker who has faded physically. A decision must also be made on the future of Kevin de Bruyne who will be out of contract at the end of the season. The Belgian is a City legend, but is increasingly injury prone and might not be able to handle the rigours of Guardiola’s style of play any longer.

Manchester City have missed the mark with some of their recent signings. Matheus Nunes, for example, was signed for £53m from Wolves to be a part of City’s next generation. However, with Guardiola’s team depleted in midfield against Spurs on Saturday, the Portuguese never made it off the bench.

Some of the player sales City have made in recent times also warrant scrutiny. Allowing Julian Alvarez to leave in the summer when the Argentinean had been so useful in several positions last season now looks a mistake. It’s also well-established at this point that City should have kept hold of Cole Palmer.

Even youngsters like Liam Delap and Taylor Harwood-Bellis surely would have been good options to have. Instead, Manchester City allowed neglected their squad and now face something of a rebuild with Hugo Viana arriving as the club’s new sporting director next summer. He will have a lot on his to-do list.

With Guardiola now staying until the summer of 2027, this might not be the end of an era for Manchester City, but it’s clear that an evolution must take place in order to keep the club at the top of English and European football. The warning signs after five straight defeats are impossible to ignore.