sport news The issues Manchester City need to address if they are to regain the Premier ... trends now
Pep Guardiola does not generally lose games in the Carabao Cup, a competition Manchester City have won four times under their current manager.
Beyond blooding their best youngsters, City view the trophy as a valuable exercise in handing match minutes and sharpness to those who have not contributed so much during the season but may be called upon as the campaign becomes congested.
It worked against Chelsea and Liverpool in previous rounds but at Southampton on Wednesday, those given the chance to impress failed. City did not register a shot on target for the first time in five years; not even the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland helped.
Manchester City were knocked out the Carabao Cup by Southampton in a shock result
They were well beaten by Southampton and Pep Guardiola has several issues to address
Although they have beaten Chelsea twice, and Liverpool and Leeds since the World Cup, supporters have a number of concerns — not just for tomorrow's Manchester derby at Old Trafford but their overall Premier League title defence.
ATTITUDE PROBLEM
'You have to be prepared when playing for Manchester City and we were not,' Guardiola said at St Mary's. 'I had a feeling that whatever line-up, we would have performed this way. We were not here.'
Reading between the lines, that suggests the manager was referring to body language for the second time this month. Guardiola — whose Etihad tenure has not been without heated discussions with players about team selection — would prefer this to any deep-rooted problems on the pitch.
He prides himself on keeping a squad energised throughout a season and, publicly at least, says that is the most important aspect of his job. These spells have happened before, noticeably during a slump two years ago. Back then, captain Fernandinho tore strips off his team-mates after a sloppy training session — a moment that helped spark them into life.
City haven't had the right attitude in recent weeks and Guardiola must solve this quickly
City may need the same from Ilkay Gundogan this time. The German laid bare the issues yesterday.
'Southampton was a lack of attitude, confidence and commitment,' he said. 'Hopefully it was the right wake-up call for us. We've won games but I feel like something is missing, something's off. At the minute there's a special recipe missing — performances, the desire and hunger is not as in recent years. We need to start working hard again, we need to be humble because things will not come to us automatically.'
That requires fixing quickly.
ALARM BELLS: 4/5
WHERE'S THE LEFT BACK?City have muddled through at left back for years. Oleksandr Zinchenko never earned the full vote of confidence and Joao Cancelo has been converted from a right back.
Zinchenko was allowed to leave without a replacement coming in — City refused to meet Brighton's valuation
