Gary Neville delivered a damning verdict on Man City’s dreadful run of form by declaring them as bad as he has seen them since Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge.
The Premier League title holders extended Guardiola’s worst-ever losing streak to five games with a 4-0 home humbling at the hands of Tottenham – which was also their biggest home league defeat of his eight-year tenure.
With that defeat keeping them five points off the top of the table, potentially eight after Liverpool take on Southampton on Super Sunday, Neville compared City’s demise to the side which finished 15 points off the top in his first season in charge – the only year they have finished outside the top two.
“We’ve seen City lose the odd game here, but we’ve very rarely seen them outplayed in every department, but that’s what we’re watching,” he said.
“They look well short. As short as I’ve seen them since Pep’s first season. I’ve not seen them as bad as this, how they’ve been in the last few weeks.”
City came into Saturday’s game having been beaten 2-1 at Brighton and thrashed 4-1 at Sporting in their last two games before the November internationals, with their return to domestic football following a two-week break unable to halt their losing streak.
Neville highlighted the missed opportunity for City to begin again after most of their players enjoyed a couple of weeks away from the club with their countries, against a Tottenham side coming into the game with pressure of their own following a 2-1 home defeat by Ipswich in their last game.
“He will have wanted that international break to come, thinking it would be a reset moment,” Neville said. “But now here, it further entrenches the opinion this is a City side currently in decline.
“It seems madness, when you think about what they’ve achieved. They’re easy to play against and teams are encouraged when playing them. The vulnerabilities are clear for everyone to see.”
Man City’s next six fixtures
- November 26: Feyenoord (h) – Champions League
- December 1: Liverpool (a) – live on Sky Sports
- December 4: Nottm Forest (h)
- December 7: Crystal Palace (a)
- December 11: Juventus (a) – Champions League
- December 15: Man Utd (h) – live on Sky Sports
