Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCNov 25, 2024, 08:38 AM ET
What a weekend! We had drama up and down Europe’s top soccer leagues, so let’s review. Manchester City suffered the unthinkable — a fifth straight defeat in all competitions — as Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham cruised to a 4-0 win at the Etihad. Combined with Liverpool‘s win at Southampton, it means that Arne Slot’s side are now eight points clear heading into next weekend’s Liverpool-Man City clash at Anfield.
In LaLiga, Barcelona inexplicably dropped points to Celta Vigo and Real Madrid put three past Leganes to close the gap at the top, while Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a statement win in the Bundesliga and Bayer Leverkusen showed they are far from finished under manager Xabi Alonso. Elsewhere, we had talking points galore involving Arsenal, Milan, Chelsea, Inter and much more.
It’s Monday, and here is Gab Marcotti reacting to the biggest moments in the world of soccer.
Spurs hammer Man City, but Pep Guardiola strikes the right notes
Obviously, the headline is City losing their fifth straight in all competitions. Pep Guardiola had never lost four in a row until his previous game and, obviously, he’d never lost five in a row. It also marked three straight defeats in the league. Technically, it happened before — at Bayern in 2014-15 — but that was after they had already won the Bundesliga, which makes it the equivalent of “garbage time” in sports: nothing to play for, nothing at stake. Throw in the fact that he had signed a contract extension just a few days before — one that was supposed to dampen the anxiety over the future — and you can see how his postmatch words were going to matter.
“I never expected to lose three Premier League games in a row,” he said. “Now, we cannot deny the reality that sometimes happens in football. We cannot run away, we have to face it … the best way to break the position is to accept reality. People say, ‘You cannot be worse.’ Yes, you can be worse. It can happen.”
Managing — and being successful at — sides with the sort of talent Guardiola has had at Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester City involves a different skill set than working in midtable or lower down the pyramid. To paraphrase Mike Tyson, you very rarely get punched in the face and so your plan gets questioned less often. It also means you have fewer opportunities to pick up your team after a setback, which is also a basic managerial skill.
Guardiola has chosen to face this task with brutal honesty. Recognising that things can in fact get worse, starting with next weekend’s trip to Anfield to face league-leading Liverpool. Lose that, he says, and City’s title challenge is over.
To me, it sounds like he’s striking the right notes to motivate and focus his squad. Coaches who work with their guys day after day often know how to push right buttons. The fact is, though, he has rarely, if ever, had to push these sorts of buttons with his players, and what ought to be concerning is there is no one obvious weakness to fix.
Some of the defeats could have easily gone City’s way. Others saw them thoroughly outplayed. In some, they failed to turn in a 90-minute performance. In others they were poor throughout. In some (arguably most), they squandered chances at the attacking end. In others, like Saturday, they made a host of individual errors, mostly in transition.
