Manchester City failed to make up ground on Arsenal on Sunday, losing 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola watched his side lose 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. (Image: Matt McNulty – Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images.)
Former Celtic and Norwich City striker Chris Sutton has questioned Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s decision-making after his side slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.
After Arsenal dropped points against relegation-threatened Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday lunchtime, City travelled to the capital with the knowledge that three points against Spurs would have lifted them to within two points of the Gunners at the top of the table. However, Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal after just 15 minutes was enough to condemn the Blues to a second successive Premier League away defeat.
It means City remain five points behind Arsenal and could be joined on 45 points by cross-city rivals Manchester United on Wednesday evening, should the Reds beat Leeds United at Old Trafford. City have not been at their fluent best in recent weeks, attracting frequent criticism, and Guardiola’s decision to leave Kevin De Bruyne out of the starting line-up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was questioned.
De Bruyne’s omission from the starting line-up, coupled with Joao Cancelo’s shock loan move to Bayern Munich on deadline day last week, means Guardiola’s and City’s decisions are coming under-fire. And for BBC Sport pundit Sutton, Guardiola’s recent decisions are “madness”.
Penning his column for the Mail, Sutton said: “Sending Joao Cancelo on loan to Bayern Munich? Madness. Dropping Kevin De Bruyne for a game you need to win to move within two points of Arsenal? Madness.
“Asking 18-year-old Rico Lewis to constantly receive the ball on the half-turn while Tottenham’s pressers lurk like vultures? Madness. And it led to the winning goal from Harry Kane at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“Pep Guardiola is trying very hard to come across as the mad professor with the decisions he’s making and, right now, they aren’t doing Manchester City much good. His side aren’t carrying that air of superiority we’ve seen from them in the past.”
Though Cancelo had not featured as much as he would have liked since returning from the World Cup in Qatar in December, his switch to Bayern Munich stunned City’s supporters. For Sutton, City are “worse off” without the Portuguese international.
“I still can’t wrap my head around Cancelo,” Sutton added. “I’d love to know what went on between him and Guardiola, how and why City felt they could afford to let him leave.
“It screams of the manager cutting off his nose to spite his face. City are worse off without Cancelo. They lost him and lost to Tottenham while he was winning with Bayern at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday.”
Carragher claims Haaland may have ‘picked the wrong club’ after Man City lose to Tottenham
Jamie Carragher thinks Erling Haaland may have “picked the wrong club” in the summer after Man City lost 1-0 to Tottenham on Sunday.
Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal was the difference between the sides as his scuffed first-half finish moving him beyond Jimmy Greaves’ tally to make him Spurs’ all-time leading scorer.
Haaland, who joined Man City in the summer from Borussia Dortmund, had a frustrating afternoon in north London with Pep Guardiola’s side struggling to hit top gear.
And Carragher reckons Haaland may be in the “wrong club” to get the best out of him despite scoring 25 Premier League goals in 20 appearances this term.
“I think we’re only seeing 60 per cent of Erling Haaland,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “He’s come from Borussia Dormund and a counter-attacking league where it’s end-to-end, you see that blistering pace he’s got, but we don’t see it [now].
“He may have actually picked the wrong club to get the best out of him. We’re not seeing everything of Erling Haaland.
“He’s scored 25 league goals but Manchester City as a team have scored the same amount of goals, but they’ve conceded more and it’s far easier to counter-attack them as well.
“They’re a different team and a lesser team with Erling Haaland in the team, but it’s not his fault.
“Manchester City as a team will not play end-to-end football, it’s not Pep Guardiola’s way, they build up slowly, push the opposition back to the edge of the box and play from there.
“Erling Haaland will still score 25 league goals but we’re not seeing the full package of what this player can do because of the team he’s gone to.”
Man City boss Guardiola insisted after the match against Tottenham that there is a long way to go in the Premier League title race but conceded they had missed an opportunity to close the gap on Arsenal.
Guardiola said: “Yes, of course, Arsenal have dropped few, few points so far and of course there was an opportunity.
“It was important to be close and leave the fifth in the table that Tottenham is right now far away, to secure the qualification for the Champions League next season that is important for many reasons.
“The team started really, really well with many, many things, creating one or two set-piece chances, but after a mistake we did two weeks ago, today we did it again and of course you have to minimise it, but sometimes it’s not possible.
“Unfortunately it’s happened. Two weeks ago we were able to come back with a more difficult scoreline than 0-1 (to win 4-2).
“But of course the stadium and everything is completely different. There were a lot of interruptions in the second half and it was more difficult.”
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk; football365.com
