There was something very familiar about Manchester City’s 5-2 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday. In August 2022, Palace went 2-0 up at the Etihad, the second goal a header from a corner but City came back to win 4-2, Erling Haaland scoring a hat trick in a dominant second-half performance. Saturday’s game followed a similar path, with the exception that the City comeback began before half-time. This time the key figure wasn’t Haaland, but Kevin De Bruyne, who produced a display to remind everybody just how worthy he was of the tributes that have followed the announcement that he will leave the club in the summer.
Does this, then, mean that City are somehow suddenly back? They’re unbeaten in five games, three of them won. The January signings, Omar Marmoush in particular, have enabled them to stabilise. They are back in the top five and should qualify for the Champions League next season (with all the usual caveats about the Premier League charges they are facing, which they deny). That is a significant step as they look to rebuild, not only in terms of being to attract players but for future PSR calculations.
They remain capable of glorious attacking football. They are still capable, when the mood is with them, of moving the ball with a pace and sense of purpose beyond most sides. And they still, obviously, have a clutch of supremely gifted players. But they do not have the aura of old.
In part the issue is self-belief, as was apparent in the drab 0-0 draw at Manchester United last week. United, it’s true, are a team who had been consolidating recently and are not as bad as they were. But still, they are vulnerable, as Newcastle showed in beating them 4-1 on Sunday, and City essentially chose not to test them. They took a point rather than risk defeat – against this United. That is something that would have seemed almost incomprehensible for a Pep Guardiola side of old.
And while it is true that City have often struggle to contain Palace in the past (Palace have scored two against them in five of their last six meetings), the ease with which Oliver Glasner’s team cut through them on Saturday was striking. Both the first goal and the effort Eberechi Eze had ruled out for offside were the result of simple balls played in behind the defensive line. No defence should be exposed so easily. Any side that plays a line as high as City’s will always be vulnerable to runs in behind them, but a coordinated and aggressive press should compensate, increasing the difficulty for an opposing player to measure a pass to such a runner. That press for City is not functioning as it should and that means they can never have the level of control to which Guardiola aspires.
The question then remains why, and whether the issues can be resolved next season. The return of Rodri, obviously, will make a huge difference, although it shouldn’t be assumed that he will instantly rediscover the form that earned him the Ballon d’Or. Other injuries, particularly to defenders, have not helped. If they are the result of fatigue, the fact City have the Club World Cup to contend with in the summer means those concerns may continue.
But the biggest issue, the first major miscalculation City have made since appointing Guardiola, was to allow the squad to grow old together – indeed, to make it older by re-signing Ilkay Gündogan. Kyle Walker (before his loan move to Milan), Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovačić and De Bruyne have all given the impression that age has caught up with them. A club can carry one or two seasoned veterans; four or five is too many, particularly when the style is as intense as the way City play.
Signings, clearly, can rectify that. Ederson, Joško Gvardiol, Rodri, Haaland, Marmoush and Phil Foden still represent the nucleus of a very good squad. Oscar Bobb is on his way back from injury. There is promise in Rico Lewis, Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee. Add on three or more summer signings and the squad will look as good as ever.
But there is a question too about Guardiola. Perhaps he does; he has, after all, demonstrated a remarkable flexibility and capacity to adapt and evolve over his career. Why should he not be able to rebuild? But after 17 years as a manager, does he still have the requisite energy and drive? Very few are able to keep going at the very top for more than a decade. There is no reason to believe Guardiola’s very public frustration when results went awry before Christmas signals a downturn but, equally, even the very best cross the summit and begin their descent eventually.
Given how successful Guardiola has been at City, it can’t be assumed that they will not return to domination, as they did after Liverpool won the title in 2019-20. But auras are not easy regained and the sense of this season is that, while City may have success again, they have become just another elite side rather than the all-conquering winners they were for so long.
Manchester City look like they will qualify for the Champions League but are far off the title pace. Composite: Reuters; Getty Images; Action Images/Reuters
