Manchester City are on their worst run in 18 years – and Pep Guardiola will be left sweating over how he turns it around.
That’s the opinion of Arsenal icon Martin Keown, who told talkSPORT that Citizens stars will now be wondering where their next win is coming from.
City, for the first time since August 2006, have lost four consecutive matches in all competitions following the 2-1 defeat at Brighton before the international break.
It’s an unwanted first for Guardiola, who had never lost as many matches in a row prior to the City’s clash at the Amex Stadium from his 17-year managerial career.
Back-to-back Premier League defeats against Bournemouth and Brighton have left them trailing leaders Liverpool by five points.
While they have also been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham, with a 4-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon leaving City tenth in the Champions League table.
Alarm bells are not exactly ringing in Manchester given the success achieved – it looks as if Guardiola is about to get a new deal – City fans now fear a record-extending fifth Premier League crown in a row may already be over with Liverpool threatening to run away.
With matches against Spurs and the Reds on the horizon, City, who have struggled in the absence of injured midfielder Rodri, know they must start racking up the points to remain in touching distance.
But Keown, a three-time Premier League winner with Arsenal, believes that is easier said than done.
Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT.com about City’s form, Keown said: “We’re seeing a mini-crisis with Man City. When you never lose games, how do you take the doom and gloom away from the dressing room?
“Because it is almost like a morgue when you come in, but they’ve got to get some sort of reality check.
“They’ve been magnificent for four seasons, they’ve just got to start winning again, but it does feel like they’ve fallen off the cliff at the moment.
“And even for Pep, it’s difficult. I don’t think [fans] are getting any enjoyment out of it, I think we’re all very interested to see how they stop the rot and how they improve things.
“But the Champions League has been a huge disappointment, to lose how they did against Sporting – 4-1 – the Manchester United manager [Ruben Amorim] without even reaching his job Manchester has probably had the most significant result for Man United, and he’s not there yet!”
Keown, as an Arsenal Invincible who was part of a group who went an entire Premier League season unbeaten, was then asked how will the City players react to their worrying slump having had their 32-match unbeaten top-flight run recently come to an end.
“It’s interesting, because I remember this happening. Arsene Wenger was really concerned, certainly in [the 02/03 season], that, ‘Look, we haven’t lost for weeks/months, if we lose a game, how do we pick this up?’
“Because we don’t really know how anyone is going to behave or conduct themselves, on the outside it looks like they’re ruling supreme.
“It’s, ‘Oh look at Man City, it’s fantastic’, but on the inside, you’re like, ‘Oof,’ you’re vulnerable.
“And so you play very proudly with your record, but when you lose that record, you start looking around when things aren’t going the way you want them to.
“They’re losing goals in flurries, they conceded two quick goals against Brighton, the same happened against Sporting, they need to just do the basics.
“And even for Pep, this is difficult to turn around, you’re going into the training ground, doom and gloom.”
Keown then reflected on his career after Arsenal, where he spent the first six months of the 2004/05 campaign at Leicester, before joining fellow Championship hopefuls Reading in January, where both clubs weren’t expected to win week in, week out.
“When I went to play for Reading and Leicester, what I noticed when you lost a game, you went in and there was a bit of spark.
“Because people are used to losing, it’s more realistic in footballing terms, but for Man City, they’ve lived a charmed life for four seasons.
“And they’ve got to get that back quickly, otherwise it very quickly slips away, and they don’t really know when that next win is coming from.
“The international break is good for them, but they’ll come back, they’ll be delighted to get back to their clubs.
“I expect them to pick up, but even for them, it’s not easy.”
City will be hoping to return to winning against Spurs on November 23, with the north Londoners also stuttering both domestically and in Europe.
Ange Postecoglou‘s men have lost their last two matches – against Galatasaray in the Europa League before being shocked at home to Ipswich.
Another defeat for Guardiola could very well see his side out of the title running.
But for his sake, he will be desperate that the ‘Dr Tottenham’ curse strikes again.
