Even Txiki acknowledges the last year in the transfer market wasn’t great, but we are talking about the best team EVER in England all hitting the physical wall at the same time, with both age and injuries contributing together.
We are in a rather unique moment and the entire English footballing world wants to knock us off our perch, so the media and other fan pile on is to be expected. What is bad, and I’m at fault here, too, is that our own fans are seeing the writing on the wall and some players are finding nowhere to hide.
Coupled with Pep using “yesterday” tactics to address “today” problems, and you have a perfect storm that has produced the worst run on forever for Pep and for decades for the team.
This, too, will pass, but there are no quick fixes in football, especially when the problems are entrenched and need a long term fix.
I fully expect we will soldier through this season looking bang average for long periods, but I also fully expect City 25/26 to look quite different from the OAP XI we have today.
We've been staring at an obvious cliff edge for about two years or so and done very little about it.
I've written far too many times on here about succession planning at all levels of the club. It's been poor, and coupled with Pep's 'preference' for a small squad, it was clear to me that problems lay ahead.
Ive watched City for 64 years of my life and seen highs and lows. I can honestly say that I don't remember being as disappointed with the performance of a City team as I have been over the last few weeks.
We have a squad full of elite level, international, multimillionaire footballers who look like they've all downed tools. They're worn out, lack proper on-field leadership, and it seems too much of a coincidence that they've all 'lost form' at the same time. As supporters, we should expect more from them, not looking for excuses or feeling sorry for them.
I doubt very much that Pep's lost the dressing room, but there's definitely something not quite right about the current situation.
We're carrying far too many passengers (i.e. KDB, Gundo, Bernardo, Walker) and players who aren't yet good enough (Nunes, Doku, Gvardiol, Savinho, Lewis) for this level. This impacts negatively on the team, particularly in the midfield.
I think that the club, in general, rested on its laurels after winning the CL. That was the point where significant changes should have been made. It is to the squad's great credit that our fourth successive PL title was won last season, but the price is now being paid.
I'd honestly prefer to have seen a major overhaul of the squad last season rather than the 4th title... But hey ho...
I just hope that the club get it right when Pep finally leaves. It's the hardest act to follow in football, and I definitely don't want us to go down the same route as the rags.