Pep Guardiola's Nightmare Christmas

Guardiola and failures

The last days of 2024 continue to pass with a story that no one could have predicted at the beginning of the season. That is the "close" relationship between Pep Guardiola and failures.

The strategist with the best winning rate and titles in world football in the 21st century, who won the treble twice with different clubs, the reference figure of his colleagues, is in free fall.

Pep Guardiola has been talked about for his influence on football, his understanding of the evolution of the game. Now he faces the toughest challenge of his career.

Man City have been drifting freely for nearly two months now. Captain Guardiola has lost control of the rudder to enter the port, since the reigning Premier League champions were eliminated from the League Cup by Tottenham on October 30.

In 12 matches since then, on all fronts, the blue half of Manchester has lost 9 and drawn 2. They have only scored 14 goals, while goalkeepers Ederson and Ortega have had to pick the ball out of the net a total of 27 times.

The latest defeat came at Villa Park, 1-2, against hosts Aston Villa, who have also had a slump this season but are now finding stability again.

Entering December, Aston Villa had won just four of their 11 Premier League games. Unai Emery's side have recovered, winning three of their last four games. They beat Man City convincingly.

If we rank the Premier League based on the results of November and December, Man City is ranked 20th. This clearly shows how serious the crisis of the Etihad team is.

Nightmare Before Christmas

The alarm kept ringing but there was no positive reaction as the fans expected. Pep's position was even shaky in the hearts of the fans.

Indeed, injuries are plaguing Pep's team. However, this is not the first time he has fallen into a similar situation.

On Saturday at Villa Park, even the return of centre-backs Manuel Akanji and John Stones to the starting line-up did not bring safety to City.

These stars have only served to highlight the serious flaws of a defence where almost anyone can score (in their last 12 games, they have only kept a clean sheet against Nottingham Forest).

There is plenty of data to back up the difficulties caused by Rodri’s absence. The story here is that Man City have no answers to problems, while Pep is recognised as a coach who always finds a formula to solve problems.

The most formidable team in the Premier League, and European football, is suddenly the most fragile and vulnerable.

Jhon Duran needed just 16 minutes to score for Villa, after Orteta had worked hard in the opening minutes. Morgan Rogers, who came through the Man City academy, played the role of provider, and he doubled the lead in the second half.

Phil Foden, who is a shadow of himself from last season, received the award. Best player, scored his first goal of the season in the Premier League. His stoppage-time strike was not enough to save the team from defeat.

“We scored a goal, we scored a goal!” chanted the Manchester to Birmingham fans.

“Pep will find a solution. He always does,” Erling Haaland declared after the match. He also criticized himself: “We have to work harder.”

Haaland himself is becoming more of a problem than a solution for Guardiola. The Norwegian scored 10 goals in the first five Premier League games. Since Rodri's injury, he has only scored three goals in 12 appearances.

On Boxing Day (December 26), meeting Everton at home is an opportunity for the Man City ship to part the fog and find the light of hope.