Manchester City: Pep Guardiola’s defense – Half a billion down the drain

Manchester City were defeated 5-2 by Leicester City on Sunday past at the Etihad Stadium.

Man City and Pep Guardiola were left red-faced by Leicester City’s attack. The Blue half of Manchester shipped five goals despite dictating the proceedings. Guardiola’s defense let him down against the high-flying Foxes.

The Cityzens started the game at a high tempo and had majority of the possession. Riyad Mahrez found the back of the net as early as the fourth minute of the first half.

The home side enjoyed passing around the pitch whereas Leicester City defended in a low block. Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri posed a threat in midfield by firing some long rangers, while Mahrez and Kyle Walker created the overload on the right-wing.

The trouble started for Man City when the Foxes attacked on the break. Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes teamed up for the first goal. Kyle Walker clipped Jamie Vardy’s boots leading to a penalty that helped the Foxes equalize. The teams went 1-1 into halftime.

Guardiola started with the same strategy and overloaded the opposition box with players. Shots were fired at Kasper Schmeichel but the scoreline remained the same despite the collective effort of Mahrez and de Bruyne.

In the 53rd minute, Youri Tielemans split open the defense with a spectacular forward pass. Castagne ran past the left-back and Nathan Ake, distributing a great pass to Vardy. The Englishman tapped it in for his second goal and the scoreline read 2-1 to the visitors.

Leicester only had 28% possession vs. Manchester City - but that helped Jamie Vardy thrive... #MCILEI | @RobTannerLCFC https://t.co/eLdRXqOpQn
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 28, 2020

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Once the Foxes took the lead, there was no looking back. Maddison and Barnes started to make inroads with beautiful one-twos which Man City failed to read.

In the 57th minute, Barnes once again threaded a beautiful through ball to Jamie Vardy which Garcia failed to defend. The defender clipped Vardy leading to the second penalty. By the hour mark, Leicester led the Cityzens by two goals.

The Blues defenders failed to defend James Maddison’s long-range curler in the 77th minute. Neither Garcia nor Ake closed down the midfielder and allowed him to take a shot. Despite Manchester City finding their second goal in the 84th minute, the defenders once again let Pep down.

In less than three minutes, Mendy failed to read Maddison’s run and clipped him in the 18-yard box. Tielemans converted from the spot, making it five against the home side, who are regarded as the biggest favorites for this season’s title.

To date, Pep Guardiola has spent close to half a billion on defenders, including the record signings of Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker, and Joao Cancelo. They are also finalizing the deal for Ruben Dias of SL Benfica.

Despite these signings, Pep hasn’t won anything apart from domestic titles in England. He hasn’t even qualified for the semifinals of the Champions League in his four years at the Etihad. In order to address the void left by Laporte’s injury, City shelled up £41 million for Nathan Ake. But things haven’t changed at the back.

If it was any other club, the manager would have been sacked by now for the defensive display Man City’s showcased in recent times. Yes, it is just one game but the trend has been repeated over the years. City have lost 10 of their last 38 games, whereas Liverpool have lost only 10 games in their previous 120+ games.

The games Man City have lost is because of their defense and not because of lacking in attack. “Half a billion is already down the drain” and how many more millions should Pep Guardiola spend to avoid these embarrassments on the pitch?