Having slept on it, I don't think last night was the total catastrophe it seemed to be while watching it live. Both teams were pretty even in terms of big chances created (1.6xG vs 1.2xG, 4 big chances each), Bodo just put theirs in and we didn't. I also saw people saying "City were saved by the offside flag" on a couple of occasions, but ultimately the flag went up on those occasions because the defence had done its job and held the line.
We lost the game in two periods of 90 seconds - the first one was defined by two big defensive mistakes from Alleyne and the second one was defined by two big defensive mistakes from Rodri. At 0-0 we were absolutely fine. Stroking it around, probing, playing well, finding little spaces to create chances. Ait-Nouri, Cherki, Foden, Reijnders, and O'Reilly all looked busy. Alleyne missed a free header from five yards but the goal was coming. Then boom, two mistakes in 90 seconds from a kid and we're 2-0 down. Alright, it happens, pick yourselves up, get to half-time.
At the end of the first half and start of the second half we were dominating the ball and looking okay, but a mistake from Rodri to give the ball away leads to a world class solo goal and suddenly it's 3-0, maybe game over. Cherki slams one in straight away and you think "Okay, maybe". Bodo were tiring a little and we were having more of the ball, so you start to think we could pin them back. But then Rodri gets sent off and any chance of a comeback is extinguished. And that's the game. We actually controlled it better and created more chances with 10 men than 11, suggesting Bodo would have folded if we'd had everyone on the pitch.
I think last night was just made up of several 50/50 moments just going against us. Alleyne's header going wide, Alleyne miscontrolling the ball on the halfway line, Haaland's shot going wide, the ref not giving the penalty for the foul on Cherki, Rodri giving it away cheaply, O'Reilly's header at the end falling softly into the keeper's hands. The high line didn't help and I'm frustrated that Pep persists with it even after showing against Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Newcastle recently that playing slightly deeper can be just as successful, but I don't think he coached a disasterclass. He coached a 2-1 win, or even a 2-2 draw, but the players let him down in those 50/50 moments.
There's no way last night happens if even two out of Nunes, Gonzalez, Dias, Gvardiol, and Bernardo are out there. Ait-Nouri looked alright early on but playing a left wing-back at right-back eventually revealed itself to be a bad decision. Alleyne looked okay against Exeter and great against Newcastle but based on a bigger sample size it's clear to see why he was at Watford a month ago - thank god for Guehi. Lewis and Rodri were both very weak and big questions need to be asked about them both. Haaland and Foden need time out of the side as well - it doesn't matter if it's part of a planned period of rest or just because they're both woefully out of form, get them out.
But the thing is, we literally had no alternatives last night. Gvardiol, Kovacic, Stones, Dias, Bobb, Gonzalez, Savinho, and Nunes are all out. Semenyo and Guehi were ineligible. Bernardo was suspended. Ake, Doku, and Rodri are still recovering from injuries. Haaland is clearly playing through an injury. Ait-Nouri and Marmoush are only just back from Afcon. The only players we had over the age of 21 last night who were fit and ready (and not carrying something) are Donnarumma, Foden, Cherki, and Reijnders. That's it. Four senior players without baggage.
We won't catch Arsenal, but we were never going to catch Arsenal. I've said since the summer, the title is theirs. They're a few years into their cycle and are hitting the crest of a wave at the right time. Liverpool are still in the post-Klopp hangover, Villa won't be up for the challenge, and City are rebuilding. Well done to Arteta for getting it right at last. For City, this year was just about improving on last year (which we already have), getting the good vibes back, and trying to put something in place that we can build from. Those building blocks are only just being put into place, so we're going to have to suck up the bad days until those blocks are set.
I said last season that 24-25 reminded me of 15-16 under Pellegrini. Old players, a soft centre, a fragile mentality, the old spine (Hart, Kompany, Yaya, Silva, Aguero) struggling a bit with injuries and age. New ideas and new blood were needed. It took us three transfer windows (summer 2016, January 2017, summer 2017) to sort that out. This season was always going to resemble the 16-17 season, when all the new ideas and new blood needed time to bed in and become habitual for all the faces we had coming in through the door. I'm willing to give Pep another 12 months, just to see what the team looks like once it's steady and stable and isn't changing every few weeks.
This season will probably click in March, like 16-17 did. We'll be too far away from Arsenal to catch them in the league but we'll likely finish 2nd on about 78-79 points. That's fine by me. We'll probably have reached yet another cup final (providing we don't lose 2-0 or more to Newcastle) and we'll hopefully still be in the FA Cup by then. With that in mind, this season still has the potential to be a great one. I don't know if people got a bit giddy about us being in a title race (we weren't) and are now disappointed, but all I wanted out of this season was clear improvement on last season and we have that. For that reason, I'm not too sad about the current state of affairs.
It's worth remembering right now that we finished 2025 top of the PL annual table (based on points per game, 2.16). We don't get a trophy for that, of course, but we should take a lot of heart from it. Despite the difficulties of last season and the injuries of this season, we still managed to be the best team in the country over a 12 month period. For a club on the way back to the top, that's something to hold onto and build from. We'll have weeks like this one again soon, it's just about riding the wave until we're back at the top - whether that's under Pep or somebody else. I'm kinda thinking it'll be Pep until 2027 and then Enrique. But let's see.
