Pep Guardiola has dismissed the notion that the age of his Manchester City squad is a significant factor in their recent run of five consecutive defeats. The manager highlighted how the same group of players were crowned Premier League champions last season. The 4-0 loss to Tottenham on Saturday marked their second defeat in a row against Ange Postecoglou’s team, with previous losses coming against Brighton, Sporting, and Bournemouth. This marks City’s worst run under Guardiola and the worst in his 15-year coaching career.
Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan, Kyle Walker, and Scott Carson are all over 30 years old. With the exception of Gündogan, all were part of the City squad that won the title for a record fourth consecutive time in May. Guardiola, when questioned if age was the primary reason for his team’s alarming decline in form before hosting Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday, said, “It depends on the performance. There are players who are 30 and more than 30 who perform incredibly well. There are players who are 23 who perform not good. I don’t see the age. All teams have players with certain ages.”
From Guardiola’s perspective, the analysis shows that the lack of results is not due to having players older than 30, as they were the same age when they won the Premier League, reached the FA Cup final, and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals a few weeks ago. “I want to defend what we have done because I know these guys and I never blame one player. There are a lot of factors that make a difference. If I could say the reason why, I’d take [solve] it immediately but it is not as simple as that,” he added.
Guardiola remains composed, stating, “I learn from these situations, be calm. Sometimes I shout, but the next morning with a coffee, I’m saying: ‘Why am I shouting? Stay calm.’” Kevin De Bruyne, who came on after 74 minutes against Spurs at the weekend, is continuing his comeback from an abdominal issue. The 33-year-old playmaker is out of contract in the summer and mentioned that Guardiola’s recent two-year contract extension might influence his long-term future decisions.
“It could be. It could help. Because I know what the future holds [under Guardiola],” De Bruyne said. “And I don’t have to speak to Pep about what’s happening in the future. If it would be a new coach, obviously you need to have a conversation with these people because you don’t know what they want with you. Maybe I would have a conversation if I want to speak about my future with Pep because I don’t know what he thinks. And maybe he changes his mind and says: ‘Kevin, thank you. Time to leave.’ But there’s more understanding of what is happening. I know how he works, how he works with the team, how he works with the players. So that’s nothing new to me.”
When asked about De Bruyne’s future, Guardiola said, “Kevin will be honest. He wants to finish here at his best. I don’t think he will be here when he believes he doesn’t feel he can be the Kevin that can produce and help the team like he has done in the last decade.” De Bruyne also mentioned that his injury layoff from mid-September to early November was the toughest of his career. “This has been the most frustrating one because last year when I had the hamstring, I knew I’m going to be out for five, six months,” the Belgian said. “That’s fine. But now it was, I don’t know. When it happened after Inter, I was basically testing myself to be able to play for the weekend and I wasn’t able. So I didn’t know how long it would take me to get better and in the end it’s taken me a very long time.”
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