Manchester City lost their third game in a row on Tuesday night against Sporting CP, which is certainly not something we see very often.
Manchester City lost 4-1 to Sporting CP, and produced one of the worst defensive displays we have ever seen during Pep Guardiola’s whole tenure at the Etihad Stadium.
City were all over the shop in midfield and at the back, and Josko Gvardiol and Matheus Nunes both clumsily gave away penalties.
City had a number of key players missing for last night’s game.
Ruben Dias, John Stones and Jack Grealish were all unavailable, with Rodri and Oscar Bobb also long-term injury absentees.
Kevin De Bruyne was only fit enough for the bench, and he came on for the closing stages of the game.
The injuries have been a talking point over the last few weeks, but pundit Gary Neville is far from sympathetic.
Gary Neville dismisses injuries at Man City and Arsenal
Without a doubt, City are missing their midfield general Rodri.
The Spaniard is so influential for City, and last night’s defeat to Sporting was the clearest indicator yet of his importance to this team. Fans were saying after the game how much City miss Rodri.
City are feeling the squeeze a bit at the moment. But Gary Neville feels there shouldn’t be sympathy for a manager who famously likes to work with a small squad.
Also referencing injuries at Arsenal, he said on The Overlap US: “I said the week before, when Arsenal went into the Liverpool game and there was the suggestion that Arsenal had Saka missing, and Odegaard and Saliba missing through suspension.
“I’m not interested. Honestly, I am so not interested in clubs who have spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of pounds on their squads, who talk about the quality of the squad.
“Do you know something, I actually think it’s an insult in some ways. Because sometimes these managers pay lip service to the idea that they believe in their squad, they trust their squad, their academy, their youth players.
“I think City have got some really special young players. They’ve got some fantastic young players at Arsenal. Believe in them, trust them!”
“City have been unbelievable so you’re not criticising them wholly here. But what you’re saying is, you can go and get results with sub-standard teams with injuries and City have done that. They’ve had no De Bruyne at times and gone and got (results).
“So I’ve got no sympathy for the clubs at the very top.”
Guardiola must trust youth
Many will probably agree with Neville regarding the injuries at Manchester City at the moment.
Given Guardiola has admitted he prefers to work with a smaller squad, he is unlikely to get much sympathy from people who aren’t associated with City.
Between now and January, the Spaniard is surely going to have to put his faith in younger players.
| Injured player | Expected return |
| Rodri | Summer 2025 |
| Oscar Bobb | January 2025 |
| Ruben Dias | After next international break |
| John Stones | After next international break |
| Jack Grealish | After next international break |
We saw him throw Jahmai Simpson-Pusey in for his full debut against Sporting, and the youngster admittedly had a tough night. But he went up against Europe’s most in-form striker at the moment, so that was always going to be the case.
Hopefully, that will not deter the Manchester City manager from turning to the younger players.
City have lots of talented youngsters waiting for a chance and Guardiola should not be afraid to call on some of them if more experienced players continue to not perform.
