Chris Sutton dismisses Pep Guardiola ‘excuse’ after Man City lose three games in a row

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Manchester City are currently in the midst of a poor run of form and results.

After being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham Hotspur, City lost their first games in the Premier League against Bournemouth and in the Champions League against Sporting CP.

In fact, City have now lost three consecutive matches for the first time since 2018.

With City having a worrying injury list, Pep Guardiola admitted after last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to the Cherries that his side “could not handle” Bournemouth’s “intensity” on the pitch.

Having now been beaten 4-1 by Sporting, a pundit has made a claim about what he’s been hearing from Guardiola recently based on what he saw in Tuesday night’s European defeat.

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Chris Sutton disregards Man City tiredness

While reflecting on City’s defeat in Portugal, Chris Sutton said this in a recent edition of Football Daily’s Champions League Debrief about just how tired Guardiola claims his players are.

He said: “Watching the end of the game, the intensity was there. So it suggests to me it’s a mindset.

“Bearing in mind it wasn’t so long ago we had the Premier League clubs vote in the five substitutes, to have five off the bench. It’s not like Pep is overusing the bench.

“He’s made two subs at the weekend. Rico Lewis, 73 minutes, Doku, 85 minutes, coming on. I don’t think that’s a fair excuse.

“I think watching City at the start of the season, they were off to a flyer, but this has been coming.

“Fulham pushed them close, Wolves pushed them close, John Stones’ header at the end, they were lethargic against Southampton. Spurs beat them at the weekend. It has been coming.”

Injuries have weakened City

In addition to Rodri’s season-ending injury, the Blues have had to get through recent matches without the likes of Ruben Dias, John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish to name a few.

With those players out and games coming twice a week, of course, the players available are going to be tired.

Just because Guardiola may not utilise every substitute available to him in every game doesn’t mean that the players he keeps on for 90 minutes aren’t tired.

With this weekend seeing the Blues return to Premier League action for an away clash against Brighton & Hove Albion, ahead of what will be another crucial run of fixtures after the upcoming international break, City will need to get as many players back fit and firing as quickly as possible.

This, therefore, will help them get back on track in terms of being able to deliver strong performances and pick up positive results again.