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Another day, another loss. Sound the alarm and ring the bell, Manchester City is in a sticky situation. The 2-1 loss at Leicester City is the Cityzens' third in four matches, and they are now 7 points behind Liverpool.
A month ago, everything was going swimmingly for Pep Guardiola and his merry band. They were two points ahead of Jurgen Klopp's Reds and were looking good enough to retain the title they won so brilliantly last season.
However, even before the loss to Chelsea, there were already signs of problems. The results were coming in but there had been a noticeable drop in performances. They should have beaten Fulham and Watford more convincingly than they did.
The derby game against Manchester United didn't really tell us anything about the side as they played against a team that was there for the taking. This was made obvious by Liverpool's easy win against the same opponents barely a month later.
Guardiola is one of the best coaches in the world. He will need to fix certain issues to avoid a repeat of his first season in the Premier League.
Some of these issues are:
#5 Get the defence back in shape
By Gameweek 14, Manchester City, alongside Liverpool, had the best defence in the Premier League. In 14 matches, the backline led by Aymeric Laporte had only conceded 6 goals (two of which were penalties).
Fast forward to today's game against Leicester City and the story is very different. In the last 5 games, they have let in 9 goals. What Guardiola will find most annoying is the way and manner these goals have been conceded.
The defence has been slow to react to corners and crosses (the two Leicester goals were headers). There has been a clear lack of leadership at the back with all the defenders who have been used being guilty of sloppiness at various times.
Now more than ever, the team needs the calmness that Vincent Kompany brings to the backline. John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi have been very erratic and error-prone. This has forced Guardiola to constantly change who plays alongside Laporte.
The defensive discipline of the first 14 matches would have to return starting against Southampton if the team are to have any hope of overhauling Liverpool.
#4 Have a word with Ederson
A big reason why City was peerless last season was the form of their Brazilian goalkeeper. The 24-year-old showed nerves of steel in his first season in the Premier League following his £32.6m move from Benfica.
His passing, agility, distribution, and bravery won him lots of accolades. His speed off his line allowed his teammates to push forward to plunder lots of goals.
This season, Ederson has not been as sharp and the team has suffered. He has looked ponderous while attempting to make saves and has let in a few soft goals.
Coming off his line has always been one of the Brazilian international's strengths. This season, he has already given away two penalties against Southampton and Manchester United.
Perhaps the presence of Claudio Bravo on the bench spurred Ederson to do very well last season. The Chilean shop-stopper has been out for a while with an injury.
Guardiola has had plenty of experience with his goalie losing form (Victor Valdes at Barcelona and Bravo in his first season at the Etihad Stadium). He will need to work with his number one goalie to ensure that the Brazilian gets his groove back.
#3 Fix the problematic left-back position
Benjamin Mendy was purchased for £52m from AS Monaco at the beginning of last season. He was a big reason why Guardiola got rid of all the left-backs he met at the club in one fell swoop; Aleksander Kolarov, and Gael Clichy.
Unfortunately, the French international has had terrible luck with injuries. He has made only 15 appearances in one-and-half seasons in the Premier League.
It is baffling to see that a good tactician like Guardiola has left himself hamstrung by having just once recognised left-back in his team. It makes less sense when one considers how many games Mendy missed last season.
Fabian Delph and Oleksander Zinchenko have filled in. While they have been willing workers, doing what is right for the team, they lack the pace and defensive nous to play the way Pep wants his fullbacks to.
With Mendy out at least until February and Delph's incoming suspension for receiving a straight red against Leicester, Laporte looks likeliest to fill the role.
#2 Speed up the play
A central characteristic of the way Guardiola's teams play has always been speed in attack. In his Barcelona days, the team attacked with pace and quick, incisive passing, constantly rotating and drawing defenders out of position.
With his new fullbacks last season, Kyle Walker, Danilo, and Mendy, the Catalan genius was able to get his Cityzens to attack opponents swiftly and intelligently. This led to the record points tally of 100 and 106 goals.
While the team has scored at a prodigious rate again this season; 51 goals in 19 games, they have not been as clinical. The pace of passing and attacks have not been as swift and deadly as before.
Against Chelsea, the team had lots of possession but didn't really force the Blues goalie Kepa Arrizabalaga into many saves. The same has happened too often across Manchester City's games this season.
City is not finishing off teams as ruthlessly as they were last season. They have been unlucky with injuries; Kevin de Bruyne, Kompany, Mendy, Sergio Aguero, Danilo, Bravo, Fernandinho and many more.
Guardiola has got to look at his team and access why his players have gone off the boil. With the home tie against Liverpool next week Thursday now a must-win game, the former Bayern manager must now work his magic.
#1 Find a way to play without Fernandinho
Such was the excellence of Manchester City's collective last season that it was difficult to pick the best player. De Bruyne, David Silva, Aguero, Sterling, Ederson, Otamendi, Walker were among the players who were on top of their game last season.
However, eagle-eyed watchers noted just how important Fernandinho was to the team as well. The Brazilian international played the defensive midfielder role to perfection last season. He shielded the backline, made last-minute interventions, started attacks and allowed the more creative players the freedom to perform.
Given his age (he turned 33 in May), a lot of people thought signing another defensive midfielder would have been a priority for Guardiola. To be fair, he did try, with the failed pursuits of Jorginho and Fred.
However, no midfielder was signed in the summer transfer window. That mistake has had severe repercussions. Fernandinho has missed the last two games which have resulted in damaging losses for the team. While Ilkay Gundogan has many qualities, being sound defensively isn't one of them.
Stones was tried in midfield against Crystal Palace and had a poor game. However, with Fernandinho still out, it makes more sense for the England international to occupy that role for now.
