Man City constantly conceded in the same way

The Portuguese midfielder explained that the reason why City conceded 4 goals and completely lost control of the match after the first half was nothing new. Instead, it was a case of “Déjà Vu” when he felt the permanent danger whenever the opponent won the ball and tried to counterattack.

Bernardo said: “We let them move too much; we do not control the good attacks as should be done. Hey, they always manage, with only one or two passes, to create danger behind and cause trouble.

The fact that they were eliminated early from the US tournament was a disappointment, but City had a reason to justify when they had to combine a new staff and 4 new contracts in 4 matches. However, when City's message is considered a time in the US as a starting point to disconnect the psychology from the trouble of the previous season, the fact that their captain is not surprised to experience the same injury is a concern.

The City players will return to the pre -season training next Monday and only more than two weeks to prepare for the 2025/26 Premier League season. Obviously, the No. 1 priority of Pep Guardiola must be re -establishing his team to avoid going into “car traces”.

Often, there will be a few decreased indicators when compared to the towering top of City during 9 years of ruling Guardiola, but then still among the best teams in the Premier League. However, this is not in accordance with the counterattack.

There are general topics that contribute to the difficulty of City to control the opponent's counterattack: the No. 6 midfielder is isolated, without putting pressure on the crossing pass, the defender does not back down or rise synchronously, defend 1 battle 1 is passive and lack of tactical fouls.

The victories in the group stage of the World Cup against Wydad and Al Ain are quite easy, although both teams cause problems for City. The warning signs were there, but City's 5-2 victory over Juventus in the final match of the group stage seemed to have obscured everything.

“I just asked Erling Haaland to take the first defensive action,” Guardiola said. “There is no higher extent. He must be a machine in pressing but we have to support him. Sometimes he rushes up and we do not follow, but today we have followed Haaland, regardless of the area on the field.” The familiar errors have crept back in City's defensive work against Al Hilal, and were punished.

Guardiola once said that “the border is the best defender in the world.” With that, he meant that the opponent had to play in wider areas instead of allowing them to play in the middle. There are large gaps in the middle of the field since Rodri's injury earlier last season – and they still exist even when the Spanish midfielder was back in the match against Al Hilal.