Even Pep Guardiola can't save Manchester City from a historically bad season

Pep Guardiola is on the verge of solidifying his worst season yet as the manager of Manchester City, and the Premier League season hasn't even reached its halfway point. Since his arrival at the club in the summer of 2016, winning titles has become the expectation for Guardiola and City, whether domestically or in European competitions.

However, something has shifted at the Etihad Stadium this season and City find themselves in a precarious position that has them looking up the league leaders in England. The Citizens already find themselves 11 points behind Liverpool and have suffered six defeats in their first 18 matches.

To put that into context, since taking over the club Guardiola sides have only suffered more than 7 losses in a single Premier League season once during the Spaniard's stay in Manchester. During the 2018/19 season, City finished nine defeats and went on to lose the title to Liverpool with a massive 18-point gap between the two clubs.

Since the start of last month, no Premier League side have earned fewer points than Manchester City (5).

Relegation form with a £1B+ squad. 😭 pic.twitter.com/F8lZDkSy4C
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 26, 2024

In fact, City's recent form has been so far below its typical standards that the club currently has the fewest points in the league since November with five points picked up.

So can anything be done to fix Man City this season? Normally it would be foolish to bet against a Guardiola-coached side, but with the talent rising in the Premier League at other clubs and City's growing injury list this might be the year they finish outside of the top four.

City are without their Ballon d'Or-winning midfielder Rodri for a long period of the season, while recent injuries to Ederson, Ruben Dias, Mattheus Nunes and John Stones have made matters worse, especially on the defensive end.

Star striker Erling Haaland still leads the club in goals with 13, but it's become a worrying trend of late that he isn't finishing chances at his normal pace. According to WhoScored.com, Haaland has 11 clear-cut chances missed since September 22, which is more than other Premier League goalscorer.

Since Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Arsenal, Erling Haaland has missed more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities (11) than any other Premier League player. 🫠

Stay humble, eh? pic.twitter.com/oWmpeBNN9Z
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 26, 2024

It also raises the yearly question regarding how long Guardiola will stick around in Manchester. He's been previously linked to top jobs across the world. even the England national side. Despite this being his ninth season with the club, the Spaniard has notoriously been eager to pursue new opportunities, leaving top jobs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the past after just several seasons.

If City's struggles do continue into the second half of the season, Guardiola could have a reasonable out if he wants to finally take on a new challenge in 2025.

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