Carragher claims Man City 'legs are gone' like Liverpool duo a couple of years ago

Jamie Carragher thinks Man City have “problems” in midfielder “reminiscent of what Liverpool had a couple of years ago” under Jurgen Klopp.

The Citizens are going through an unprecedented spell of form that has seen them lose five straight matches under Pep Guardiola, including their last three Premier League games.

They are still second in the Premier League but they are now eight points adrift of Arne Slot’s leaders Liverpool, while Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton are now one point behind them.

Man City boss Guardiola has just signed a new contract at the Etihad Stadium and the Catalan coach could now face a bit of a rebuild as they are missing Rodri badly.

When asked if Guardiola is unsackable at Man City, Carragher replied on Sky Sports: “Yes, he is. Sir Alex Ferguson was unsackable. I think Jurgen Klopp was probably unsackable at Liverpool.

“There’s no way Manchester City would ever sack Pep Guardiola, even if he went two or three years without winning anything.

“I always felt that at Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp. If he went two or three years without winning a trophy, we’d all still want him to be our manager, and who would you ever get who’s better than Pep Guardiola?”

Liverpool decided to replace Fabinho and Jordan Henderson – who were key to Klopp’s success at Anfield – in the summer of 2023 with both midfielders moving to Saudi Arabia as their legs tired.

And Carragher reckons Man City are going through a similar time with their midfield as Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan struggle to fill in for Rodri.

Asked whether Man City are in crisis, Carragher replied: “No, I wouldn’t use the word crisis. They’re still second in the Premier League.

“It’s an awful run. If it continues, I think we are talking like that, but I still think Manchester City can have a successful season.

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“But the problems they’ve got in midfield, I’m not sure you can fix them with the personnel they’ve got right now. I think they would have to attack the transfer market in January, but that’s a problem for them because of the situation they find themselves in with the Premier League, and would that put players off coming in the middle of a season?

“The problems they’ve got right now in the centre of midfield are reminiscent of what Liverpool had a couple of years ago, when they had Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in that role, and the legs are just gone.

“We did some analysis on Monday Night Football about them getting done on the counter-attack, and that’s what’s happening to Manchester City right now.”

The ex-Liverpool defender added: “I think the age profile of the midfield is a problem.

“Rodri’s won the Ballon d’Or and he’s the best in the world in that position. But his replacements – Ilkay Gundogan well into his 30s and Kovacic who has turned 30 – haven’t got great pace.

“The other midfield players, more attacking midfield players, but Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, well into the 30s as well. So that’s a problem. No one can beat Father Time. As you get older, the sharpness, extra little bit of pace maybe comes away from you, and in that central midfield area, they’ve got a problem that, as we saw at Liverpool a couple of years ago, I don’t think those players can fix.

“Maybe Pep can come up with something a little bit tactical, a little bit different, which I think he did at the weekend, but it didn’t quite work.

“I think it’s new players he needs, rather than a new tactical blueprint.”

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