Gary Neville believes Manchester City have “run out of legs” and need a “full reset” after their latest defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Reigning champions City are now 20 points behind Arne Slot’s side after the 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
City, without the injured Erling Haaland, lacked potency and their defeat underlined their startling decline this season after winning the title for the past four seasons.
Pep Guardiola’s men remain fourth in the table, but qualification for the Champions League is now their target in the league after the Reds completed a league double over City.
Former Manchester United defender Neville told Sky Sports: “This will be painful for Man City but maybe Pep Guardiola needs it, maybe the club needs it. A full reset.
“They have been running at a million miles an hour for years, the title battles against Liverpool. But they have just run out of legs, run out of steam. They’ve grown old together.
Pep Guardiola’s side slipped to their eighth league defeat of the season
“Pep Guardiola is going to have to build a brand new title-winning team. He knows what one looks like, that’s for sure.”
Defeat to Liverpool was City’s eighth in the league so far this season.
Their worst campaign for defeats under Guardiola came back in 2019/20 when they lost nine games.
Pep: This club has a bright future
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Guardiola was pleased with Man City’s performance despite losing to Liverpool and he conceded they are far behind their rivals but said the club’s future is bright
Defeat to Liverpool was City’s eighth in the league so far this season. Their worst campaign for defeats under Guardiola came back in 2019/20 when they lost nine games.
Despite their struggles this season Guardiola is adamant City still have have a bright future.
“If you lose, you have to lose the way we lost today, “Guardiola told Sky Sports. “I saw many things that this club has a bright future with the players that we have.
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Manchester City put a sly message on the Etihad big screen to remind everyone they’re four-time champions
“Except Kevin de Bruyne and maybe Nathan Ake, all the players are so young. What the club decides next for the future, there is a bright future for this club in the next years.
“Everyone knows that a part will be here next season for the older players but we have to build for the next step. There is a question of time.
“Even with the amount of absences we have, we played well. They break the lines and can break behind you. They really threaten but we bring them there and all we missed is that in the final third, it depends on the talent to dribble or shoot in the right moment. From there, we build for the future.
“We are far away. We will see in the future. What we have done in previous seasons is good but now we are away from them.”
Keane: There should be no panic from City
Meanwhile, Roy Keane thinks there will be further change to come this summer and expects some senior players to be moved on by Guardiola.
Manchester City had a busy January transfer window spening £180m bringing in Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez.
With Kevin De Bruyne out of contract and the futures of other senior players not certain, Keane expects a further overhaul of the squad in the summer.
“Some of the City players will be under pressure,” he told Sky Sports.
“Will Pep want to keep some of them? It will depend a lot on their contract situations and with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne out of contract and few others, you’d think automatically that they’d probably move on.
Asked if that would be the right thing, Keane replied: “Probably. We’ve all been there, particularly when you are playing in midfield, and it is tough going. The manager then has to make a decision.
“You’ve got to look at the bigger picture but, from City’s point of view, I wouldn’t be panicking.
“They’ve recruited and they will have another look in the summer. Some of the senior players will move on but that is just the nature of the beast.”
If you think about the wide players Man City had when they were dominating, they are definitely short in that area now. If you think about Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane, it’s definitely an area they need to improve.
Carra: City have to get their recruitment right
Jamie Carragher thinks City will be back challenging for honours again next season but only if they get their recruitment right.
“Liverpool were in the same position as Manchester City a couple of years ago and they got their recruitment right.
“You look at the midfield of Mac Allister, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai, they were bought on the back of Liverpool being in a similar situation to City.
“They were fighting to get in the Champions League and they had Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in the middle of the park. They had been absolute stalwarts for the club but they needed to move on.
“It’s just about getting the recruitment right.
“If City get those two or three players right in midfield, and let’s not forget their recruitment has already started, they will be back challenging next season.”