Pep Guardiola looked like a defeated man at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, after Real Madrid dumped his Manchester City side out of the Champions League.
Manchester City have fallen off a cliff this season in every single department, and the buck stops with Pep Guardiola.
The Man City boss has allowed complacency to slowly seep in at The Etihad, and if truth be known, he’s been guilty of dropping off massively as well.
Things went from bad to worse for Pep on Wednesday night when his side were dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.
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The Madrid fans rubbed salt into his wounds by sarcastically pleading with him to stay in charge of City!
Numerous players are clearly finished at City under Pep, including the likes of Kevin De Bruyne.
Guardiola has guided Man City to six Premier League titles and a Champions League amongst many other major honours during his time at the club.
His immense trophy haul at The Etihad has led to him firmly establishing himself as the best manager in world football.
However, all is clearly not rosy at Man City right now, and something’s got to give.
Pep Guardiola rumour emerges amidst Manchester City struggles
Back in November, Pep put pen to paper on a new deal with Man City – one that runs until the summer of 2027.
The 54-year-old has worked absolute wonders at The Etihad since taking over as manager of Man City in the summer of 2016.
However, over the past six months, he has arguably experienced his toughest time in football management.
City are out of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, have a real fight on their hands just to finish inside the top four, and only have the FA Cup left to play for.
The drastic fall-off from the majority of Man City players has been incredible to witness this season.
The recent cycle of complete and utter domination domestically is clearly over.
So does Pep have what it takes to start from scratch and bring the glory days back to The Etihad?
According to Spanish publication La Razon, Guardiola’s position as Man City manager is ‘delicate’ right now.
The media outlet suggest that after his players ‘literally walked around the Bernabeu’ on Wednesday night, Guardiola’s future is ‘under question’.
However, the report does go on to say that Pep is keen to remain at The Etihad in order to oversee a huge summer rebuild.
Eight in and eight out in Manchester City rebuild?
So City made four new signings in the January transfer window at the cost of more than £200 million.
However, Guardiola needs to bring in at least another four new faces in the summer.
Eight City players are apparently up for sale, including the likes of John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva.
If Pep really is to transform his current Man City side, he needs to add some real legs to his central midfield department.
He has already signed Nico Gonzalez, but the additions of a real box-to-box midfielder and a creative advanced play-maker will be crucial as well.
The Manchester City manager also needs to add some real pace and final product to his front-line. Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish have flattered to deceive over the past 18 months or so, and a big upgrade is required there.
Finally, it’s clear to see that Man City need a top-class, technically gifted full-back. The experiment of playing with four centre-backs across the back-line has run its course.
Pep Guardiola has failed to properly replace what Joao Cancelo offered at Manchester City, and it’s time the Spaniard finally changes that.
It’s clear to see just how much work needs to be done on the current Man City squad.
The rebuild may well be a long and painful one, and the fans will soon find out whether or not Pep has the stomach to oversee such sweeping changes.
