Can Pep Guardiola rescue Manchester City from this crisis?

Only three points from the last four games and six points behind toppers Arsenal on the leaderboard, after arguably the worst performance of the Pep Guardiola era, against Aston Villa, howls of a crisis at Manchester City are intensifying. As horrendous as they were in Villa Park, only a novice would write off last season’s treble-winners at this juncture of the season, four games still for the mid-season break. There is the resounding solace of recent past too, but even the staunchest of City supporters would not feign their club is wading through a semi-crisis.

Even their inscrutable manager—u-turning from his conviction that his club is still destined to win the league—admitted that his side is “struggling” and “needs to find solutions” if they are to defend the title for a record third time. It has been a season—stalled no less by injuries to key personnel, departure of some of his trusted on-field lieutenants, impeded by untimely suspension of key players and the new recruits not yet blending into his style—where what could have gone wrong have gone abominably wrong. It’s a testament to City’s deep bench that they have managed to not utterly falter. But that superior strength on the reserves is the reason there is less sympathy towards City.

In explaining the deepest woe, Guardiola dwelled on his midfield before the Villa game.“The midfield players are completely opposite to what we have the last seasons.” For all the gifted forwards, the soul of any Guardiola is his midfield. Everything originates from them, the control and vision, the tempo and pace. Everything is designed with them in mind, and it’s the reason he chooses his midfielders carefully, and has harnessed the finest out of some exemplary midfielders.