Man City crisis has echoes of Liverpool’s ‘bad champions’ | OneFootball

In February 2021, Roy Keane famously called Liverpool ‘bad champions’ after they lost 4-1 to Man City in the Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp‘s side were in the midst of an extraordinary fall from grace. Having waltzed to their first title in 30 years with 99 points on the board the season beforehand, they were in danger of becoming mid-table fodder.

Despite the many problems that plagued the Reds that year, Keane was scathing in his criticism, blasting them for making “a lot of excuses”. But there are striking parallels between that team and the Man City of this season.

Both teams started their respective campaigns strongly. Liverpool opened their title defence with wins over Leeds, Chelsea and Arsenal before a shocking 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa. Things did not immediately fall apart; in fact, they didn’t lose again for the rest of 2020 and were top at Christmas following a 7-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Everything crumbled once the New Year was rung in, though. Defeats to Southampton and Burnley either side of a goalless draw with Man United were a sign of things to come. They won just three of their first 12 league games in 2021.

Man City, meanwhile, didn’t lose their opening nine games, but their downfall has been even more dramatic. Saturday’s defeat to Aston Villa was their sixth in eight games. Extend that to all competitions it’s nine defeats in 12. They’ve won just once in that period.

Ask Liverpool fans what was the season-defining moment that led to their sudden and unforeseen collapse and they will likely point to the season-ending injury suffered by Virgil van Dijk against Everton. City were dealt their own killer blow in September when Rodri ruptured his ACL. Their struggles in his absence have only bolstered his credentials as the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.

Losing a key player is obviously suboptimal, but City have dealt with injuries to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in the past to eventually come out on top of the table. But it’s the accumulation of injuries that have taken their toll.

Phil Foden, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovacic, Savinho, Ruben Dias and De Bruyne have all been on the treatment table at various points this term. When his side aren’t hitting their usual levels, Pep Guardiola will concoct a tactical rethink that unlocks their potential and sees them go on a lengthy unbeaten run. While he still has a lot of talent at his disposal, he doesn’t have the players available to institute such a change. His situation isn’t helped by the fact that City entered the season with a light squad.

The problems that plagued Klopp’s team three years ago were arguably more farcical as the injuries piled up on each other. With no central defenders available, he put Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in the backline, but that had a huge knock-on effect in midfield and didn’t make the defence any better.

In both cases, issues are exacerbated by the fixture schedule and a lack of rest. Liverpool had to contend with the congestion that followed the Coronavirus shutdown, meaning they had a game every few days. The erosion of injury cover meant there was a greater dependence on the few players who were available, thus increasing their chances of injury.

It’s been a somewhat similar story for City, who welcomed back Stones this weekend only for him to come off at halftime. The England international was evidently rushed back to cover for Dias, but has subsequently re-injured his foot. It leaves them light at the back during one of the busiest times of the season.

The Man City squad also has an eerily similar age profile to 2020/21 Liverpool. The average age of the 22 players used by Guardiola is 27 years, the fourth-oldest in the division. Liverpool’s was 26.8, the sixth-oldest at the time. City do have a number of young and peak age players, but the core of the team that formed the backbone of their success over the years is getting on. Next summer’s rebuild could be massive – and necessary.

An ameteur psychologst could see that Guardiola has been struggling mentally with his side’s sudden downfall. This is an unprecedented run of bad form for arguably the greatest coach of all time and, while few would be surprised to see City bounce back in the second half of the season, it wouldn’t be shocking if they continue to spiral. There’s an inexplicable quality to it; they should be better than this, even with the many issues, but it’s like they are being swallowed by quicksand as they helplessly sink ever deeper.

If they look back to the Bad Champions, Liverpool pulled themselves out of that quagmire and went on a fantastic run to finish third in the table, a miraculous position give the preceding few months. The difference is that Klopp had already dealt with a similar downward spiral at Borussia Dortmund. His team were absolutely dreadful in the opening half of the 2014/25 campaign, which eventually led to his exit, but only after he inspired an incredible surge back up the table. They rose from rock bottom all the way up to seventh, qualifying for the Uefa Europa League.

That wretched year might have helped Klopp deal with the problems he faced during his lowest moments at Liverpool and lead their turnaround. Guardiola has never experienced anything like this, and that might make all the difference this season.

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