Manchester City have hit the rocks, and crashed to a 4-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Manchester City thrashed Spurs at the Etihad Stadium, and it was a very painful result for Pep Guardiola to take.
It is the first time the Spaniard has ever lost five games in a row as a manager, but Spurs were worth their three points, with City all at sea again.
City were simply too easy to play through, with their mobile attackers Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke all really enjoying themselves.
There’s a lot of focus on the defence at the moment, but City also have issues at the other end.
There’s an overreliance on Erling Haaland at the moment, and Micah Richards has expressed his surprise about the sale of Liam Delap in the summer.
Micah Richards questions Man City over £20m Liam Delap exit
Right now, Haaland is a one-man band for City in terms of scoring Premier League goals.
The likes of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Savinho have all failed to score a single goal in the league, and City are made to pay when Haaland has an off day.
For Richards, the sale of Liam Delap for £20 million is starting to look like a mistake.
He said of the Ipswich Town star on the latest Rest Is Football podcast: “He’s got a bit of everything. I think obviously it helps that his dad was a professional footballer as well just to guide him. But when he left City, I was quite surprised really because throughout the youth, he was always someone who was highly sought after.
“Like you mentioned, he’s a bit of a throwback, but he’s got good technique for a big lad. I think his hold-up play for someone so young is exceptional at times, and what’s he scored? Six in the Premier League already?
“I mean, for a team that play well, but don’t get as many chances as top teams, I think he’s been outstanding.
“He reminds me a little bit, Al, of Ferguson at Brighton. He’s very similar. When I look at him, I’m like, the run’s similar, they do similar things. Maybe Ferguson’s a little bit better technically, but, yeah, Delap’s really impressed me this season.”
Delap looks brilliant
It was understandable that City sold Delap, with £20 million a good fee to receive for a player with as little Premier League experience as him.
But Guardiola must be slightly uncomfortable with Delap’s sale now, seeing how well he’s doing at Ipswich and how much his side are struggling to score goals when Haaland isn’t being clinical.
It would be so nice to have that second striker option.
| Delap for Ipswich | Delap for Man City first-team |
| Appearances – 12 | Appearances – 6 |
| Goals – 6 | Goals – 1 |
But City sold Delap relatively early in the transfer window, and then, of course, the club sanctioned the exit of Julian Alvarez for over £80 million.
The result is now this overreliance on Haaland. One injury to the Norwegian could see this poor season turn catastrophic.
It was suggested recently that Man City may seek to try and re-sign Delap at some point. It remains to be seen if an approach will be made, but Guardiola may well wish the sale had never been sanctioned in the first place.
