‘I’m not Messi’ – Rodri’s back but what is wrong at Man City?

After winning the Premier League for the first six of their seven seasons under Pep Guardiola, last year was dismissed as a letdown as Manchester City finished their second-straight trophyless season.

There were at least 115 charges against the club, future speculation, and Rodri’s injury, according to the report.

However, City were anticipated to return refreshed, revitalized, and ready to reclaim the Premier League title after spending roughly £330m over the course of this summer and the transfer window in January.

There isn’t much that can prove that.

No team in a 38-game campaign has recovered from a position of dominance following Brighton’s final-gasp 2-1 victory on Sunday, making City their worst Premier League start since 2004-05 season.

Control, play patterns, and attacking incision have been the hallmarks of Guardiola’s best teams.

It seemed only natural that the issues that had plagued them last term had been resolved over the summer when City defeated Wolves 4-0 on the season’s opening weekend.

However, the south coast defeat on Sunday was a repeat of the inconsistent behavior City displayed last season.

In the first half, Guardiola’s men stifled Brighton, limiting Kaoru Mitoma’s men to just one chance.

Haaland opened the scoring with his 88th league goal for City, making his 100th appearance for the club.

However, with James Milner, Brajan Gruda, Georginio Rutter, and Yasin Ayari joining the fray, Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler made a quadruple substitution after an hour.

From the beginning, Brighton was dominant, equalizing through Milner in the penalty spot before Gruda’s late winner.

We won two goals,” he said. For the first hour, Guardiola praised us, according to Guardiola.

“We forgot to play after the goal,” the player said. The consequences were being considered.

We are engaged in numerous activities, “I like many, many things.” We had a strong start, just like Tottenham. The team did a lot of things right this moment, but we were unable to win. We stopped playing when we won the goal.

“It’s a game,” The season has just begun. We have a very long, very long season ahead. What will happen, we’ll let you know.

Only Manchester United’s 1992-1993 title-winning team has since won two of their first three league games and won the trophy in a 42-game campaign.

Former Chelsea and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who said, “It’s back to the drawing board for Man City.”

Rodri’s absence had a greater impact on City’s disappointing campaign last season.

The Spaniard, who won the 2024 Ballon d’Or award for best player in the world, was sidelined last September due to a cruciate knee ligament injury.

The former Atletico Madrid midfielder has been the difference-maker for City for a long time.

Before the defeat by Brighton, City hadn’t lost a Premier League game where Rodri had started before losing to Spurs 1-0 in February 2023, putting an end to his 49-game unbeaten streak.

The 29-year-old is still City’s most important player, but it would be unfair to expect him to play at levels he had previously displayed after eight months of injury-related injuries.

“I’m not]Lionel] Messi. Rodri told Sky Sports, “I’m not going to come back and just make the team win and win and win.”

It’s a collective, I say. I needed all of my teammates when we won in the past. We must look to all of ourselves, because it is a collective sport, and I must certainly recover my best level. We can hopefully improve after the break.

Rodri, who was making his first Premier League start since suffering a knee injury against Arsenal 11 months ago, also emphasized that City would need to rediscover their former selves on their own.

You aren’t focusing and paying attention, he continued, noting that some of the mistakes we are making are children’s mistakes.

“We must raise the bar if we want to compete,” the truth is.

Some of Manchester City’s struggles have come from their out-of-control work in recent weeks.

Losses to Brighton and Spurs both highlight a developing pattern that is likely to explain City’s subpar start to the season. When opponents build up from the goalkeeper, city press is high against them. Teams have a chance to take advantage of Guardiola’s men down the flanks by pressing high, combined with pressing the full-back to cover a wider area when they are tasked with pressing.

The ball is moved to a defender out wide for both the first goal scored by Tottenham and the second goal by Brighton, who is unable to press them forcefully. Before making a direct pass into the channels, the wide player of the opposition can turn and face forward.

Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis, both of whom are playing at fullback for City, are dragging them deeper against Brighton and one of the opposition players drops further, dragging them to Brighton.

In order to fill the void left by the full-back, City have three players in their backline. All three players then shift to the backline.

One of City’s center-backs is forced to defend on the flank in a situation where they are less comfortable, increasing the likelihood of losing their respective duel.

The space between the spread-out three defenders is then open to opposing players.

On September 14, City travel to Manchester United in a derby against their former foes.

Few people would have anticipated that given Ruben Amorim’s initial season of pressure.

However, City’s season opener has the potential to be cheered up by Haaland, who returns to his best form.

Despite scoring 22 goals in 31 league games, the Norwegian’s astonishingly high standards slightly decreased last year.

The 25-year-old has three goals in as many league games this season, though.

After Brighton beat him, Guardiola confirmed that playmaker Rayan Cherki will miss two months with an injury, which only puts more strain on Haaland’s shoulders.