Crisis at Manchester City: Even more stars: Guardiola sees shopping spree as a solution

Pep Guardiola stood there for a few seconds, motionless and staring, as if it were all just a bad dream. Someone please pinch him and just wake him up. The 1-1 draw against relegation candidate FC Everton extended top club Manchester City’s crisis balance to one win from 13 games. The star ensemble with the star coach is currently one of the worst teams in the Premier League.

“As far as the table is concerned, I have no arguments,” said Guardiola. City are seventh after Boxing Day, the traditional Christmas matchday in the United Kingdom. League leaders Liverpool are a whopping 14 points better. “But if you ask me about performance, then football is about winning, scoring goals and not conceding – and we have always done that, except for the last month and a half.”

Problems in the middle and defense

The salvation could be January 1st. Then the transfer window opens. And for all of Guardiola’s brilliance, it has been customary at City in the past to respond to weakness with transfers. Big transfers. After all, the ruling family in Abu Dhabi has an extremely solvent owner. “Of course we have to try,” said the 53-year-old. There are problems at the back and in the middle. Even if that’s a thing with winter transfers.

Especially since it is questionable whether and which new players should help at all. Without a doubt, Rodri’s long absence has hit the team hard. The Ballon d’or winner is the heart of the team, but will be missing until well into the new year due to a torn cruciate ligament. It’s not like City always plays badly. The performance against Everton was okay, they created chances – the biggest of which was missed by Erling Haaland with a missed penalty when the score was 1-1.

The balance sheet is nevertheless adventurous. City have lost nine of their last 13 games – as many as in the previous 106 games. Guardiola, who is used to success, has never experienced anything like this before and the question is increasingly arising as to what answers he has in store other than transfers. He has not publicly criticized his players and has always taken responsibility for themselves.

The Spaniard is by no means criticized. Although there were whistles after the final whistle against Everton, they were so isolated and timid that they could hardly be seen as a protest. The team trusts their coach, the owners in the desert are relaxed. Guardiola could of course resign, but the current situation may make him feel too burdened by the honor to take this step.

Verdict expected in the “trial of the century”.

They are currently five points behind just one place for the Champions League qualification. Guardiola has even spoken openly about the possibility of not playing in the premier class next season. But that probably won’t happen, City’s quality is simply too high. The turnaround could be heralded at Leicester City as early as Sunday.

However, there is a risk of another setback at the beginning of the year – in the courtroom. In what the British press called the “football trial of the century,” City is accused of 115 counts of breaches of financial rules. Theoretically the highest penalty would be exclusion from the Premier League. However, this is unlikely to happen, nor will there be a continuing earnings crisis.