When Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City last summer, he was treated with a reverence bordering on hero worship.
“Everyone is in thrall to Pep,” said a club insider, with many at the Etihad stadium fawning over the decorated former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss.
Seven months on and such awe has given way to scepticism, with Guardiola’s side and grandiose plans in disarray following Sunday’s humiliating 4-0 defeat at Everton.
A fourth defeat in eight Premier League games left City TEN points behind leaders Chelsea, and prompted new boss Guardiola to concede the title with 17 games left and 51 points still up for grabs.
This was not what the club’s top brass envisaged when they recruited one of the most coveted coaches on the planet. They were convinced his arrival would cement their status as the dominant team at home and abroad.
July 3 — City present new boss Guardiola to their fans:
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January 15 — He admits they can’t win the title after latest defeat:
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Suddenly, the euphoria of that 3-1 win over Barcelona in November seems like a trick of the mind with City now mired in a familiar bout of despair and self-recrimination.
Former Manchester United and England star Gary Neville, now a pundit for Sky Sports, was brutal in his assessment following the heavy Goodison Park defeat.
“It was an incredible result,” he said. “It was a strange game for Man City – they looked all over the place.
“At the start of the season, I thought both Manchester clubs would be pushing for the title at this stage. At this moment in time, they’re off it — although United look happier than City at the minute.”
Pundit and ex-City defender Danny Mills claimed Guardiola was in the midst of a “crisis”.
He said: “Just look at Pep Guardiola’s body language after the game. He’s clearly very frustrated. He doesn’t have the players to play the way he wants to.
“He is in a real crisis point at the moment. He doesn’t want to change his philosophy or his principles about the way that he plays, but realises the players that he has got can’t do that.
“It’s a real crossroads for Pep.”
While City may boast some of the finest attacking talent in world football in Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, that firepower is being undermined by a slapstick defence.
In 21 Premier League games under Guardiola, the Blues have kept just four clean sheets, the manager continually shuffling personnel and changing systems but still unable to prevent the goals from pouring in.
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And that is before you get to calamity keeper Claudio Bravo — supposedly an upgrade on exiled former No.1 Joe Hart, but someone who is an accident waiting to happen every time he plays.
Of the last 22 shots he has faced in the Premier League, Bravo has conceded 14 goals — the worst ratio of any keeper.
In fact, it is hard to recall Bravo making a save of note in his six months in Manchester.
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City would be better off putting back-up Willy Cabellero in goal, but Guardiola’s fierce pride will not allow him to do so, because that would be an admission signing Bravo to replace Hart was an error.
Guardiola may be in the firing line, but the finger of blame must also be pointed at sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who has presided over a succession of dodgy defensive signings.
City have spent £125m on defenders in the past two-and-a-half years in a bid to give them some reliability at the back, but nearly every one of them has been an unmitigated flop.
Martin Demichelis, Eliaquim Mangala, Bacary Sagna, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones were all recruited on Begiristain’s watch, but none of them have vindicated the wisdom of their signing.
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Stones has undoubted potential, but he has struggled to replicate the form that earned him a £49m move from Everton last summer and is suffering from playing amid such mediocrity.
City should have recruited two new full-backs as far back as the summer of 2015, but they have carried on with the unconvincing trio of Gael Clichy, Aleksandar Kolarov and Sagna — and are now paying the price.
Guardiola could cite mitigation on Sunday, as he was missing the suspended Fernandinho and injury victim Ilkay Gundogan, both key players.
Watch — Pundit Alan Shearer SLAMS Stones after Man City lose 4-0 at Everton:
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Yaya Toure claims Manchester City’s thumping at Everton was “unlucky”
But it is remarkable that the world’s richest club was forced to field a midfield duo of 33-year-old Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta, 32, whose ageing limbs were exposed by Everton’s ebullient youth.
Yet, somehow Begiristain seems immune to scrutiny and censure within the corridors of power at City, given he is part of the Catalan cartel that has assumed control at the club.
City have given Guardiola everything he wants in the pursuit of success, with staff who had forged lasting bonds with players over a number of years jettisoned upon the arrival of Pep and his team.
But that faith in Guardiola, his staff and philosophy is being tested to the limit right now.
After a 5-0 FA Cup win at an abject West Ham in their previous match, City were brought back down to earth with a thud at Everton.
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Guardiola was twice a Champions League winner with Barcelona and was brought in to take City to that exalted level, after they reached the semi-final stage under Manuel Pellegrini last season.
But unless they get their act together swiftly, City, just two points better off than at this stage last season, could suffer the unthinkable and miss out on qualification for the Champions League.
Mills said: “Their defence is all over the shop. It’s never a flat back-four or flat back-three. He needs to sort that out.
“This could be the first time that Pep doesn’t make the Champions League — and he was brought in to win it.
“Not qualifying would be an absolute disaster for Manchester City.”
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