Manchester City's alarming run of form has been linked to a key problem affecting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, with pundits blaming Enzo Maresca's constant defensive changes. The club fell to their third consecutive Premier League defeat on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
The result leaves City six points adrift of leaders Arsenal, with Brighton able to push them down to third if they beat Brentford on Sunday. After winning their first seven matches of the campaign, City have now suffered three straight league losses, with the defence coming under increasing scrutiny.
Defensive instability blamed for Donnarumma's struggles
Speaking on Match of the Day after the defeat at Forest, pundit Steph Houghton suggested Maresca's reluctance to settle on a regular defence was preventing his players from developing an understanding. She believes the lack of consistency is having a knock-on effect on Donnarumma.
"It doesn't help that he's changed the back four quite a lot over the last 10 games, five different back fours," the former Manchester City women's star said. "When you do that it's hard to get the connections and get that understanding. You can see that from City's performance today. Some of the goals were really avoidable."
Houghton also pointed to positional changes as a contributing factor. "It's not only just changing the back four, but [changing the players] positionally. You look at [Abdukodir] Khusanov, he's played right back, he's played right centre half. What is his best position?"
Pundits question Maresca's approach
Houghton added that City's defensive record should be a major source of concern for their head coach, pointing to the number of chances they are allowing opponents to create as well as individual mistakes. "Maresca will be really frustrated. It's a really big concern for City in terms of conceding too many goals, conceding too many chances, individual errors as well," she said.
Fellow pundit Danny Murphy also questioned Maresca's approach, suggesting his players could be struggling to perform with the threat of being dropped hanging over them. "I feel like the confidence levels of players dropped when you feel like if I have a bad moment I'm going to be taken off at half time, or dropped. You don't gain a really solid back four or five if you feel like every time you make a mistake you're going to be left out," Murphy said.
City's defensive record and upcoming fixtures
City have now conceded 10 goals in their last five games, with their backline looking increasingly vulnerable. Maresca has selected the same four defenders in consecutive matches on just one occasion this season, with Josko Gvardiol, Marc Guehi, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes starting against Porto on September 8 before retaining their places for the Manchester United fixture five days later.
City face a potentially season-defining run of fixtures when domestic action resumes, including Champions League encounters against Napoli and Barcelona, as well as a crucial trip to Arsenal. First up, though, is a home meeting with Fulham on November 21. For Donnarumma, finding some consistency in front of him could prove crucial.
