What's gone wrong for Pep Guardiola after 499 Man City games
...as he approaches his 500th match in charge at Manchester Cityon Sunday, Pep Guardiola is being confronted with so many problems that he hasn't faced since the very beginning of his tenure. ...
Guardiola's first City team in 2016-17 was a bit of a mess. ...But the squad itself had been allowed to grow stale before Guardiola's arrival, ...
Now, after 499 matches, City's current problems seem awfully familiar. ...11 [players] are 29 or older, four are 22 or under and only four -- forward Erling Haaland, midfielders Phil Foden and Matheus Nunes and defender Rúben Dias -- are close to what you might call the prime age range. ...Injury and staleness have helped to derail a season that has seen some high notes and a 14-match unbeaten streak to start the season...
...
The 16,000-minute club
Eleven players have recorded more than 16,000 minutes for Guardiola at City.
- Éderson, GK: 31,177 minutes
- Bernardo Silva, MF/FW: 26,702 mins
- Kevin De Bruyne, MF: 26,367 mins
- Kyle Walker, DF: 25,626 mins
- Ilkay Gündogan, MF: 22,704 mins
- Raheem Sterling, FW: 22,072 mins
- Rodri, MF: 20,555 mins
- John Stones, DF: 20,036 mins
- Fernandinho, MF: 18,216 mins
- Phil Foden, MF/FW: 18,092 mins
- Rúben Dias, DF: 16,356 mins
Of these 11, nine (in bold) are still with the club. Five of these nine are at least 30 years old, three are at least 33, and six were added in just a 13-month span...
What I have thought from afar: staleness is a key culprit. There is much more to this amazing article, the vacuum at center-back post-Fernandinho and Rodri is the fulcrum of the trouble. Superb article by Connelly that explains a lot.
