When Kyle Walker was asked to explain the crisis that has threatened to overwhelm Manchester City ’s season on Thursday night, he replied: “I’d love to - but I can’t.”
Perhaps the time for talking has long gone.
Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden have both been wheeled out in recent weeks to deliver their opinions on a malaise that has now seen City lose seven of their last 10 games - as many defeats as they had suffered in their previous 105 outings. And Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan both stepped up to speak after a 2-0 defeat at Juventus on Thursday night left City facing the prospect of a play-off to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
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That Walker, as skipper, didn’t feel compelled to talk prompted one social media account covering the Blues to reflect: “We have not heard from the Manchester City captain for five games.”
Walker, of course, does have his own podcast - but ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker ’ is now being used as a stick to beat him with. The 34-year-old has won just two of the games he has started this season. The way his form has fallen off a cliff is a microcosm of City’s season.
The four-in-row champions are facing a myriad of problems that have combined to produce the perfect storm.
Manager Pep Guardiola signed a two-year contract extension last month. But the lack of clarity about his future made it tougher for sporting director Txiki Begiristain to do the necessary transfer business during the summer.
Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic and goalkeepers Ederson and Stefan Ortega are all in their 30s. Gundogan, one of only two new signings, was brought back from Barcelona despite being just five months younger than Walker.
Then there are the 130 Premier League charges that have hung over the Etihad like a dark cloud for almost a year. City insist they are innocent on all counts, but the threat of being kicked out of the Premier League is a clear and present danger as far as new recruits are concerned.
Begiristain has been a mainstay of City’s success since arriving in Manchester 12 years ago - but the Spaniard is leaving at the end of the season and may have taken his eye off the ball.
Guardiola, for all his genius, has been unable to find a replacement for Rodri, the Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder who has been sidelined for the season by a cruciate injury. Foden has been hit by a mystery illness that has made it impossible for him to replicate the form that made him Footballer of the Year.
Key defenders Dias, Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake have also spent time in the treatment room. Guardiola once again spoke of being exhausted ahead of the Juve game. The question has to be asked whether the 53-year-old Catalan has the energy to oversee a rebuild with incoming director of football Hugo Viana.
Any talk of Guardiola’s job being on the line would be hugely premature given he has delivered 18 trophies in his eight years in Manchester. But he does need to come up with solutions to prevent City’s campaign for disintegrating totally.
One of Begiristain’s final acts will be to deliver someone to fill Rodri’s boots. Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi is being spoken about, but the Spanish midfielder has already rejected a move to Liverpool. Atalanta’s aggressive Brazilian international Ederson is another name in the frame.
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But first Guardiola must come up with a solution for the individual and collective errors that are costing City goals in every game. Dias spoke about it before the defeat in Turin. His failure to hold a high line led to Weston McKinnie volleying home Juventus’ second goal after keeper Ederson had blundered for Dusan Vlahovic’s opener.
Gundogan insisted: “I feel we know exactly what’s going wrong. We know the reasons. Every single player has to push themselves individually to be better. It just feels like we are not strong enough right now and we have to work on that.
“Individually and collectively, everyone has to question themselves and try to figure out what to change and what to do to contribute to the team in the best possible way. I feel we are not playing that bad, but something is missing.
“But it’s not the time to give away the whole season because there are so many games still to play - but we have to turn things around quickly."
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