This is more than a bad run for Man City & Pep Guardiola hasn’t found the solution to five key problems

At what point does this become a crisis for Manchester City?

It is, after all, the worst run of defeats during Pep Guardiola’s reign as manager, and Saturday’s 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur was the biggest losing margin of the Catalan’s time in Manchester.

City have always been judged differently. They’ve earned the right to, of course, after six titles in seven years and no-one can judge too harshly if they allow their grasp on the trophy to slip this season.

But viewed through the lens that would be applied to any other Premier League side, a five-game losing run and a 4-0 battering at home to a side recently beaten by Ipswich Town is cause for concern. Even more alarming is that the manager can’t seem to find the solution to recurring flaws in this side.

On Saturday, City started well against Spurs and were in the ascendancy until James Maddison’s opening goal. The Blues have always demonstrated an elite mentality, but their confidence and composure dissipated after conceding, as was the case in recent losses to Sporting Lisbon and Brighton & Hove Albion.

City’s penchant for letting the opposition score first has been a constant thorn in their side this term and has occurred in exactly half of the club’s Premier League games. Then there’s an inability to prevent counter attacks - which Guardiola has addressed - and an overreliance on Erling Haaland to score goals.

City have just six goalscorers in the league this season, three of whom are considered defensive players. Between the six who have tended to play as wide attackers - Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Bernardo Silva, Matheus Nunes and Phil Foden - they’ve scored just one Premier League goal all term.

It's the form of Foden that is perhaps most distressing, although he had some bright moments early on against Tottenham. In hindsight, City became to rely on his virtuoso displays to bail them out last season - a third of the way into the new term and he has come nowhere near those heights again.

Then there’s the midfield set-up. No Rodri was always going to be an issue and despite Guardiola’s promises to ‘find a solution’, he is yet to identify a winning combination in the centre. That has been compounded by Mateo Kovacic’s absence, and the experiment of a flat midfield three of Rico Lewis, Ilkay Gundogan and Silva on Saturday failed disastrously.

The ease at which Spurs tore through City was reminiscent of visiting sides across the city at Old Trafford, not the Etihad. The balance isn’t there. Too often this season sky blue blurs have been forced to race back and frantically stop opposition attacks.

Not only have City been beaten in each of the last four, they’ve also been outscored in expected goals, an indication that they’ve deserved to be on the losing side.

And there was a new reason for concern on Saturday as ill-discipline crept into a clearly frustrated performance. Lewis and Silva hacked down Maddison, Manuel Akanji hauled Lucas Bergvall to the ground and Kevin De Bruyne tried to manhandle a prone Pape Sarr. All four were shown yellow cards. The unflappable champions have lost their cool.

This is probably City’s lowest point since December 2020, when a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion left the team in ninth place after winning just five of the opening 13 league games. Yet, that season Guardiola’s side regained their composure and went on to claim another title at a canter.

It’s a habit that to varying degrees City have repeated in the three seasons since, with downturns in form over the autumn or winter months being offset by faultless finishes. But without Rodri, the team’s most influential player, this time it feels different.

That Saturday’s defeat happened at home - where City never lose - when players had returned from injury and the team had been given a morale boost by Guardiola’s new contract and the return of Rodri and his gold-plated Ballon d’Or, underlines how the psyche of the team has altered.

This is more than a bad run, and how City turn this around is anyone’s guess. But with Liverpool’s form, it’s clear they need to find the solution immediately. In Guardiola’s ninth year in Manchester, City are running out of lives.