Man City's crisis is far from over. The next few weeks will define their season

Pep Guardiola always knew it was too early to say the real Manchester City was back.

Sure, his team ended its unthinkable run of one win in 13 games by beating Leicester and West Ham unconvincingly in the Premier League. Then City smashed a combined 14 goals past Ipswich and fourth-tier Salford in a signal, to some, that the aura had returned.

Not to Guardiola. He could see his injury-ravaged defense was brittle, his aging midfield was easy to play through in midfield, and that the team was still badly missing its fulcrum — Rodri, the Ballon d’Or winner.

A trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League exposed all those weaknesses, and more.

City might be back in crisis after a 4-2 loss at PSG that Guardiola was powerless to stop on a rainy night the French capital.

“We could not cope,” he said.

Things could be about to get much, much worse.

Either side of a match against Club Brugge that City must win to avoid elimination from the Champions League, the beleaguered English champion has an extremely tough Premier League schedule: Chelsea on Saturday, then Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest in a row.

That’s the other teams in the league’s top six — City is in fifth place — plus a bogey team in Tottenham.

That takes City to the start of March, by which time the club’s reputation may also be in tatters off the field, too.

Hasn't City just spent $150 million?

Yes, City has gone on a spending spree in hope that can ignite the season, with Egypt forward Omar Marmoush arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt and young defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis joining from Lens and Palmeiras, respectively. City was planning to freshen up the squad in the summer but brought forward those signings to January, partly because of injuries and partly because of the team’s desperate state. What Guardiola really needs, however, is a new midfield.

Major midfield problems

Rodri’s season-long absence because of a torn ACL has exposed City’s poor midfield recruitment over the last two years and left Guardiola with a set of players who are technically gifted but lack dynamism, pace and power.

Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are all in their 30s and on the decline. Their inability to track midfield runners and cover ground as a unit is leaving City’s defense open to transitions. In that sense, for all of its world-class forwards, City might be one of the easiest teams to attack at the moment.

Gundogan returned for a second spell in the summer but that might go down as a mistake. Kovacic and Matheus Nunes joined in the summer of 2023 but that looks poor business now. Nunes isn’t even being trusted to play in midfield, with Guardiola deploying him as an emergency right back of late.

Will there be any more signings?

Maybe, but it appears more likely there will be outgoings.

One almost sure to leave is Kyle Walker, City’s long-serving right back who told Guardiola at the start of January he wants to explore a move abroad. Walker is reportedly set to join AC Milan in Italy.

Walker was captain last season and has been a mainstay in City’s defense since 2017, his speed and recovery abilities key to the way Guardiola sets up the team. But his form has dramatically dipped amid off-field issues and he is 34. City hasn’t been linked to any midfielders ahead of the Feb. 3 transfer deadline, which will be a concern to fans.

Tough schedule

City's ambitions of winning the Premier League have virtually gone and now it's all about securing a place in the top four — or more likely top five this season — to qualify for next season's Champions League.

City is fifth but vulnerable, with sixth-placed Newcastle on the same number of points and Bournemouth — one of the form teams in the league — only a point back in seventh.

City couldn't have a harder run of games in the league, though at least three of the next four — Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool — are at home.

Financial charges loom

Away from the field, City is awaiting the verdict of its seismic legal case with Premier League, which has accused its champion of the past four seasons of more than 100 financial breaches, including providing misleading information about its sources of income.

Punishment could be as extreme as expulsion from the league and the potentially explosive announcement could come anytime over the next few weeks following the conclusion of a private hearing. City has always denied the charges.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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