Manchester City are currently struggling, and the inquest is now in full swing as to why this is.
Pep Guardiola has just under two weeks now to establish why his side are struggling so much, and fans are expecting a big response after the international break.
Manchester City are currently on a four-game losing streak, and are now five points adrift of Liverpool in the title race.
The focus has mainly been on City defensively.
The backline has been shaky this term and the loss of Rodri has been huge.
Micah Richards said at the weekend that Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis are getting caught out of position, but City also have problems in the final third.
Erling Haaland is being relied upon to score the goals and others are not really chipping – and Chris Sutton has suggested Julian Alvarez is really being missed.
Man City told they miss Julian Alvarez, amid losing streak
On Saturday against Brighton, Haaland was on target for City for the 15th time this season and 12th time in the Premier League.
But his supporting cast are not really pulling their weight.
Phil Foden, Matheus Nunes, Savinho and Jack Grealish all haven’t scored in the league so far this season.
Undoubtedly, this is a problem and all those players need to find form and quickly.
Last season this wasn’t an issue for City, with Foden playing some of his best football of his career, and Julian Alvarez also really shining.
Alvarez got 32 goal involvements last season for City across all competitions (19 goals, 13 assists), with Guardiola hailing Alvarez as ‘extraordinary’ back in January.
Sutton has pointed to his sale as one reason for the team’s current slump, saying on the Monday Night Club: “I think we mentioned Alvarez and the number of games he played. He played more games last season than any other City player, was that right?
“Or anyway, played a lot of games for them. And he does really seem a big miss. So maybe at this moment in time, if you watched City over the last four games, you’d say, well, yeah, they do need freshening up.”
- Who is Julian Alvarez? The story of the striker who won it all at Man City before joining Atletico Madrid
Alvarez is missed but his sale was inevitable
Once Atletico Madrid had offered over £80 million for Alvarez, there was no way the club were turning it down.
That was simply huge money, for a player who would not have been in Guardiola’s strongest Man City XI with everyone fit.
Yes, he had a great season in 2023/24 and contributed plenty in the final third. But £80 million was still probably about £20 million above his actual market value.
| Julian Alvarez for Man City |
| Appearances – 103 |
| Goals – 36 |
| Assists – 18 |
| Trophies won – 6 |
Paul Merson recently said City couldn’t be blamed for selling Alvarez and he is right.
However, it is also true that City do miss the Argentine’s output. He was a fairly consistent source of goals after Haaland, and that output has not been replaced.
In January, City should certainly look to bring another versatile forward in.
