A month after one of Manchester City's biggest wins at Anfield, Enzo Maresca's side have suffered four defeats and only three wins in their subsequent eight matches, denting a perfect start to the season. The team's recent performances have raised greater concern than the results themselves.
From a side that showed grit to win at Old Trafford with 10 men and see out games, City have recently looked as weak and easy to play through as the worst times under Pep Guardiola. Maresca enters the international break having faced questions about several structural issues without convincing anyone with his answers.
Midfield Setup Questioned
Having played with two defensive midfielders in pre-season, the new City boss changed to a single pivot when Elliot Anderson arrived. The £116m man is not getting the protection from the two in front of him that anyone would expect. Maresca has defended the setup when challenged, and it looks to be one of the biggest flaws in a side that has lost control of too many games recently.
The sheer number of individual mistakes points towards a systemic fault, with quality players unable to do what is being asked of them. Yet that does not excuse those involved, and some of it has been completely out of Maresca's hands.
Key Players Underperforming
Gianluigi Donnarumma sums up the current concern well. It remains 'Gigio plus 10', as the manager put it recently, because steps have been taken to take one of his weaknesses out of the game to shore up the team, and his shotstopping remains one of the best around. Except recently it hasn't been, and when he is making mistakes like those against PSG, Aston Villa and RB Leipzig, that cannot be legislated for.
Similarly, Matheus Nunes is still seen as the best right-back option, but City might not have lost against Brighton if not for his horrible miskick for the only goal of the game. Maresca is rightly facing issues over his set-up, but that hasn't been helped by poor performances from key members of the team, including Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, Enzo Fernandez and Jeremy Doku.
City's coach may well make tweaks to his system after seeing how teams have played through them, but he will also be helped if the players that should be most valuable to him can regain the form they have dropped in recent weeks. Those drop-offs are currently being attributed to Maresca, but those players have to take their own responsibility, and if they can, some of the issues for the Italian will fade away.
