3-0, and conceding just 24 seconds into the match — this was a genuinely painful defeat for Manchester City. But more worrying than the scoreline might be just how thoroughly City underperformed across the entire match.
Donnarumma’s errors drew the loudest criticism, but the defensive gaps are the real disease
The first name up for scrutiny is inevitably new goalkeeper Donnarumma, who’s taken the brunt of online criticism — his misjudgment on the back two goals makes him a fair candidate for the biggest culprit in the loss. But the defensive problems on display went well beyond one man. City were comprehensively outmatched in midfield today; without Rodri holding things together, new arrival Elliot Anderson showed a real drop-off in defensive coverage. The back line had its own issues too: on the opening goal, City’s defense had already lost track of a runner twice in the buildup — the first time Ødegaard had already found space, only for the pass not to arrive, and less than ten seconds later he was punished on the exact same run. Everyone remembers Donnarumma getting sent the wrong way for the third goal, but the real problem started earlier — a defender mistimed a tackle and failed to win the ball, letting Ødegaard collect it in a prime spot inside the box for a one-on-one with the keeper. Even a keeper who wasn’t fooled would have had long odds of stopping that shot.
Haaland starved of service: the attack raised just as many red flags
On the attacking side, City started Foden — a player who hasn’t been trusted under Guardiola this season — in the advanced midfield role, but his link-up play and physical presence were both clearly lacking; he did get one shot on target with some threat, but there was little else to show for it. As a result, City’s attack was left leaning almost entirely on Doku’s individual dribbling, while their sharpest weapon, Haaland, went the whole match without real support. That exposes a deeper squad-construction problem: Haaland is a striker who needs teammates to feed him the ball to be effective — his own ball-progression is limited, and unlike Kane, he doesn’t have the ability to drop deep and collect possession himself. But looking at City’s current midfield, there’s simply no one who can reliably supply him — which is close to squandering his single greatest strength.
My take: can Enzo Fernández and Manu Koné fill the hole Rodri left behind?
Taken together, City’s situation this season looks genuinely concerning, and I think midfield reinforcement is essential before the transfer window closes. The most persistent — and most plausible — target right now is Chelsea’s Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández, with the two clubs currently stuck around a £120 million fee. If that deal goes through, his passing range and long-distance distribution could do a much better job of unlocking Haaland’s attacking output, and his late runs and shooting from range would drag defenders out of position and open up space for teammates — his defensive game obviously isn’t in Rodri’s prime league, but his coverage and physical duels aren’t actually bad, he’s just not built to anchor a midfield alone. The other name reportedly on City’s radar is Manu Koné, a midfielder with an unusually wide defensive range.
If Elliot Anderson ends up paired with Enzo Fernández and Manu Koné, that trio would genuinely cover passing, late runs, defending and aerial duels all at once. But compared to the old Rodri-Bernardo Silva pairing? I think the only real edge left is fitness. As for City rebuilding their old dominance — I have my doubts.