For once Pep Guardiola is making the wrong kind of history. For the first time in his managerial career it is four defeats on the spin for the 12-time league winner. Five points off the Premier League summit, out of the EFL Cup, blown apart in the Champions League: that might be a luxury crisis for many teams, but by the standards Guardiola has set for his teams, this feels like more than just a wobble.
After all, it was not like they could come away from their defeats to Brighton, Sporting and Bournemouth -- maybe Tottenham too -- and feel hard done by. Following several weeks of just about getting by, with wins over ordinary opponents, City are looking second best to the sort of sides they would have brushed past a few weeks ago. And that doesn't augur well for a fixture list that includes Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus and Manchester United in their seven games after the international break.
There is, then, a lot for Guardiola to fix. Here is a snapshot of the trouble City are in, escalating in severity: A 19 year old center back, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, thrust into the one position where they were supposed to have depth. Josko Gvardiol, the Premier League's best left back, asked to shuffle across to support him.
Matheus Nunes, improved but still broadly unremarkable, sponging up minutes on the left flank while Mateo Kovacic does the same in the middle at a stage in his career where you might expect his burden to be lessened. Make no mistake, these are still teams good enoug.
