City’s manager is synonymous with success. His career as a coach is a true reflection of competitive excellence, and not just because of the numerous titles he has won. He has managed some great clubs that have invested heavily in signing the best players in the world, and his teams have always delivered. If they did not win, the came very close. Guardiola’s teams have always gone all the way and that is the mark of a manager who has been at the top of the game for more than fifteen years. 

The 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, with Guardiola’s men outclassed in every department, marked an unprecedented and unwelcome milestone: seven consecutive competitive games without a win, despite recently renewing his contract. A changing of the guard was announced: Txiki Begiristain officially confirmed that he would be stepping down as City’s Director of Football at the end of the season and it was widely believed that Guardiola would follow suit, yet the great man opted to renew, to continue leading the City project without his inseparable Txiki. 

In the Premier League, the Sky Blues are eleven points off leaders Liverpool. The title has already been lost barring Liverpool’s total collapse and an implosion by Arsenal and Chelsea. Brighton are also ahead of them, with Tottenham snapping at their heals, harassing a City that is currently out of the Champions League positions. The injury to Rodri has thrown Guardiola; without his stand-out midfielder, his playing model lacks balance and the team is failing to gel.