Pep Guardiola says two Tottenham stars showed their 'quality' in 4-0 Man City triumph

Yesterday at 04:45 PM

It is easy to forget that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were comfortably in the ascendency before James Maddison fired Tottenham Hotspur in front against the Premier League champions.

Erling Haaland could – and maybe should – have beaten Guglielmo Vicario twice in the opening ten minutes.

And, when James Maddison converted a pinpoint Dejan Kuluvsevski cross to set Tottenham Hotspur on their way to a remarkable four-goal victory at the Etihad Stadium, the reaction from the punditry gantry was one of genuine shock.

Where, Sky Sports commentator Rob Hawthorne asked, had this come from?

On countless occasions in the Pep Guardiola tenure, Man City have bounced back from setbacks such as this before recording a pretty emphatic victory. But not these days. Not once Maddison doubled his tally, capping a performance reminiscent of the man he produced during Leicester’s 5-2 lockdown trouncing of the champions back in 2020.

Gary Neville could not pick between Maddison and Kulusevski when handing out his Man of the Match gong. Well, initially anyway, the ‘outstanding’ Maddison hitting a brace to earn himself the award in the end.

The Englishman and the Swede were the two Spurs players singled out by Guardiola, too, while attempting to make sense of a now career-worst run of five successive defeats.

Pep Guardiola hails Tottenham heroes James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski

“Well, 0-4, nothing much to say right,” Guardiola told reporters at full-time, eyes ablaze behind his seething smile. “Congratulations Tottenham.

“We are a little bit fragile now. We started really well and we couldn’t score. And the first time they arrive [in our box] they score.

“Of course, the quality of Kulusevski and Maddison was good.”

While much of the post-match discussion will centre on the most testing period of Guardiola’s staggeringly successful managerial career, this is also Man City’s poorest spell since the faraway days of 2006.

When even European football, let alone Champions League glory, was an alien concept to those in sky blue.

Guardiola demands Manchester City fightback after Spurs shellacking

“We do not expect opponents to not create chances and score goals. [But] the moment they create the chances, we couldn’t handle the duels like normally. Now, we’re struggling a little bit,” Guardiola said, putting forward his candidate for the understatement of the century competition.

“It cannot happen. When you play top level teams, we can concede chances but it’s part of the process. In our situation it’s a bit tougher.

“I have to see the situation. The players came back late [from the international break]. Now, the balance is not in the right moment. But it happened. We have to do [work things out], talk, and on Tuesday against Feyenoord, have the chance to try [to bounce back].”

Neville, in his co-commentary role for Sky Sports, laid much of the blame at a ramshackle midfield missing the presence and defensive awareness of Rodri.

Waving his Ballon D’Or for all to see before kick-off, the majority of the Man City fanbase would happily melt down that award and sell it on the black market if it meant Rodri returning from a long-term injury substantially ahead of schedule.

Guardiola, however, points out that John Stones, Jack Grealish and Kevin de Bruyne have had their own fitness issues to contend with. Thus, denying City four of their most senior players.

“Of course Rodri is important, but we knew that for many months,” Guardiola argues. “But Stones can only play 45 minutes. Jack has been injured many times. Kevin [has been out for] two months and five months.

“We have to come back and freshen our minds. The season is so long. Many things can happen.”