Christmas came early for Crystal Palace as Manchester City continued with the, ‘Tis the Season of Giving’ sentiment, albeit Pep Guardiola’s team started handing out gifts in mid-November.
After a welcome return to winning ways at Luton Town and Red Star Belgrade, it was back to squandering leads in the final stages at the Etihad for a third consecutive Premier League encounter – and lest we forget the 95th minute penalty giveaway to Chelsea’s Cole Palmer at Stamford Bridge.
Palace’s Michael Olise converted his spot kick – also in the 95th minute – as City surrendered a two-goal advantage and, what had appeared to be, domination of the match.
The art of game management has previously been one of the pillars of City’s continued success. Having put themselves in a winning position in previous campaigns, the three points were hardly ever relinquished – especially not in the dying embers of matches.
City have effectively deprived themselves of eight points by conceding equalizers in the 95th, 80th, 90th and 95th minutes against Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Palace respectively.
It’s enough to prompt the old chestnut about teams, managers and players not being allowed to own a dog – they’d never be able to hang on to the lead. City are more Shih Tzu than Shepherd, when striving to round up the points and see themselves safely home.
And yet, amidst all of the defensive disorientation and out-of-character calamities, City are ‘only’ five points behind league leaders Arsenal and four adrift of second placed Liverpool – who face each other this weekend – as the Blues aspire to become World Club Champions in Saudi Arabia on Friday night.
Guardiola is never a man to seek excuses in adversity, even when consistently denied the talents of Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones and, more recently Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, through injuries.
He said: “It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved. We gave away two points, but if you give away a penalty, you deserve it.
“At the end it’s about being patient and not conceding transition – the things we have done for seven or eight years in this type of game.”
Despite City’s total of 34 points from their first 17 Premier League games being the fewest under Pep since he took charge in 2016, and the fact they sit outside of the top three at this stage, there are no panic buttons being pushed.
Of course, City have been far from their vintage best. They’ve set the bar at such a height an Olympic gold medal winning pole vaulter would balk at the task.
Having hit the highest of highs with last season’s remarkable Treble, it’s only human to have a psychological drop off in performance levels. It’s not intended and it doesn’t make it right, but shit can, and does, happen.
If it goes hand-in-hand with a temporary blip, City are far from out of contention for an unprecedented fourth consecutive PL title.
Pep has consistently denied accusations of complacency among his players. If it doesn’t exist, it’s time to prove it. Panic seems to be the prevalent emotion in the closing stages of recent encounters.
Guardiola is the proverbial GOAT (Greatest Of All Time – just to avoid any confusion about feeding Shaun Goater) an innovative, ever evolving tactical genius, but even the best of the best can occasionally disappear up their own backsides, baffling the rest of us mere mortals.
Football is all about opinions. Pep has a CV and silverware to trump anyone who challenges his abilities, but it doesn’t mean he always gets things right.
One puzzler from the Palace game was the absence of John Stones who was confined to the bench. Pep elected to play him in the dead rubber in Belgrade rather than prioritise three Premier League points.
City would have benefited from 95 minutes of ‘Johnny, Johnny Stones’, who’d have brought greater defensive solidity and added midfield presence.
Notwithstanding City’s biggest mistake of the summer, that of losing Ilkay Gundogan – Gundo has indicated he would’ve stayed had Txiki & Co acted earlier to keep him – the usually dominant midfield is now as solid as a Swiss cheese.
Injuries and suspensions have been a hindrance, but they are part and parcel of everyday football. Nunes needs time to settle and adjust to the playing style and Kovacic – by his own admission – is not ‘a Gundogan’.
The absence of KDB cannot be overstated, but Pep’s persistence in playing an inexperienced Rico Lewis – a converted full back – in a key midfield role at such a young age is questionable.
Lewis isn’t a scapegoat – far from it – but Pep’s perseverance, some might say stubbornness, is curious.
Sadly, Kalvin Phillips has fallen short of the standards required and has added nothing to the midfield depth.
Any effective shield in front of City’s defence – Rodri apart – has been conspicuous by its absence. It leaves the backline vulnerable and susceptible to swift counterattacks.
The sale of Aymeric Laporte has been called into question, but on the face of it the centre back corps of Dias, Ake, Akanji, Stones and Gvardiol should be more than adequate.
At just 21-years old and being played out of position at left back, Josko Gvardiol has come in for unjust criticism. Highly regarded and with huge potential to be a truly world class defender, the young Croatian needs time to adapt.
Further up the pitch, Jeremy Doku, another 21-year old, has made a positive impact with his eye-catching wing wizardry. It’s sparked a debate about who should play out wide left – the Belgian or Jack Grealish?
It’s very much horses for courses.
Doku can be electrifying and exciting in attack, but at the moment he can’t protect his full back in the same fashion as Grealish. Tracking back and maintaining possession are not his forte, unlike Jack.
Who’s to say they can’t play in the same side with Grealish in a more central role. Super Jack was a mainstay of City’s Treble success and he’s now back adding goals to his game – three in the last three PL games.
Phil Foden has looked the man most worthy of filling in for KDB, when deployed behind a clearly frustrated Erling Haaland. Foden’s quick feet, his ability to take the ball on the turn and one touch passing would generate a better supply line for the Nordic Meat Shield.
Haaland has missed his fair share of opportunities, but he’s been feeding off scraps for much of the season.
For all his goal-scoring acumen and work rate, Julian Alvarez, doesn’t have the Stockport Iniesta’s speed of thought, deft touch or vision.
Can the Argentinian World Cup winner play the No 10 role? Perhaps, but not as well as Foden.
It’s fortunate Foden is still available for selection after Jacob Brown’s two-footed assault against Luton. It was a leg breaker – reviewed by VAR as a potential red card – and staggeringly dismissed as not even a foul.
Anybody who’s played the game and knows the pros and cons, can tell if a player has gone into a challenge with intent and malice aforethought.
It begs the question what does an opponent need to do to get sent off against City – decapitate one of our players?
In another minor, but equally mystifying moment, Bernardo was penalised for taking a foul throw. The throw-in had been textbook perfect.
The win was well deserved, but given referee Tim Robinson’s errant decision making and City’s dominance, it was amusing to hear the home supporters singing, ‘2-1 to the referee…’
One can only surmise that the idiots from Bedfordshire’s dozens upon dozens of villages had congregated at Kenilworth Road.
The run up to the frustrations and disappointment of the Palace game was punctuated by a night of pride for the City Academy, as graduates Micah Hamilton and Oscar Bobb scored in the 3-2 Champions League victory at Red Star Belgrade.
In total, five Academy ‘products’ took part with Rico Lewis, Mahamadou Susoho and elder statesman, Foden, on the pitch during proceedings.
Kalvin Phillips clinically dispatched an 85th minute penalty to make it 3-1. He reacted by waving and blowing kisses to City’s travelling support – taken as a sign of his impending departure in January, most likely on loan to Juventus.
He and the rest of the City squad are now in Jeddah preparing for Tuesday night’s FIFA Club World Cup semi final against Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds. It’d be a huge shock if City don’t get past the J league side and into Friday’s final.
Taking nothing for granted, the expectation will be that City front up to Fluminense – the Brazilian and Copa Libertadores Champions. It’s usually a case of the top team in Europe facing off with their South American counterparts.
Whereas the Club World Cup doesn’t carry anything like the gravitas of a Champions League or Premier League title, Pep said: “We take it as a privilege, it’s an honour to be here – it means you have done something exceptional in the past.”
Having been overly generous in recent weeks, it’d be nice if City could do a passable impersonation of Ebeneezer Scrooge, give nothing away and wrap up a fifth title this calendar year – just in time for Christmas.
By David Walker
It remains to be seen whether there’ll be another RBNR article before Christmas, so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all the readers and supporters of the blog, the happiest of holidays. It’ll help if City are crowned World Champions and then go onto live up to that billing against Everton and Sheffield United.
That said, this Christmas will be the hardest ever for a truly wonderful set of people – the parents and family of Milly-Rose Stirrup, the beautiful little Sky Blue Angel, who passed away aged in February. Her brave Mum and Dad, Pip and Shaun, have set up a registered charity – The Milly-Rose Stirrup Foundation – in her memory and we’ll be writing about its work and achievements in 2024.
For those of you who might not be aware of Milly-Rose, click on the link to read the tribute.
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