Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is seeking a response from his title-holding side after a slip in standards he said was expected “sooner or later.”
After losing four consecutive matches for the first time in his decorated managerial career, Guardiola backed himself to turn the situation around by signing a two-year extension to his contract Thursday.
Just 48 hours later, the positivity that deal created was punctured as City were humbled 4-0 by Tottenham to lose at home for the first time in 52 matches.
A side that has created history by winning an unprecedented four Premier League titles is now caught in the negative spiral of a five-game losing streak.
Guardiola conceded his star-studded squad are “fragile” and low on confidence after a run that also included defeats to Bournemouth and Brighton, either side of a 4-1 Champions League thrashing by Sporting Lisbon.
“Being here for eight years, I knew that sooner or later we would drop,” said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss.
“Of course, we never expect to lose three Premier League games in a row. In that time, we always expected a drop, but we were incredibly consistent.
“However, we cannot deny the reality that sometimes in football and sometimes in life it’s here.”
There remains plenty of time in the season for Guardiola’s men to arrest their decline.
However, there are serious questions about whether they have the personnel or physical capacity to do so after years of going deep into the well every season.
Before kick-off against Tottenham, Rodri was welcomed back to the Etihad for the first time since winning the Ballon d’Or, awarded to the world’s best player over the previous year.
The Spanish midfielder’s name was lit up in fireworks and a giant carpet spread across the entire pitch.
Yet, it was once the action began that City really showed just how fundamental he has been to their success in recent years.
Rodri suffered a season-ending knee injury in September’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal and City’s title aspirations looked to have disappeared with him.
Since the start of last season, City have lost once in 53 matches with Rodri and nine in 25 without.
Reliance on Haaland
Kevin De Bruyne made his return from a two-month injury layoff in the closing stages against Spurs but at 33 is now regularly sidelined by fitness issues.
And the pace that made captain Kyle Walker one of the Premier League’s finest ever right-backs is now beginning to fade as Timo Werner tore past the England defender to set up Brennan Johnson’s fourth goal for Tottenham.
The decision to sell Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for 82 million pounds ($103 million) and not replace the Argentine looks increasingly misguided.
There is little backup to Erling Haaland as a goal threat. The Norwegian has carried the burden with 15 goals, while no one else has more than three.
“This is a City side currently in decline,” said former Manchester United captain and pundit Gary Neville.
“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.”
Worse could be to come as City travel to Premier League leaders Liverpool next weekend.
Defeat at Anfield, where City have not won in front of a crowd since 2003, could see the defending champions fall 11 points behind the Reds.
Guardiola conceded that would be too great a margin to bridge but his immediate priority is on stopping the rot against Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday.
City are well-placed to make the knockout stage but have plenty of work to do to guarantee a place in the last 16 via a top-eight finish in the new format of Europe’s top club competition.
“There are many things that are going to happen that we need to do to break the results as much as possible to get more positive and confident,” he added.
“We are not used to losing so many games in a row. That’s happened. We have to do everything now to change, especially the next one.”