Pep Guardiola's aura has vanished and Man City have lost their fear factor

The Premier League is back and how will Alexander Isak fit in at Liverpool?

But perhaps the biggest question hanging in the air is: Can Manchester City reverse their limp start to the season?

Many observers expected Pep Guardiola's team to shake off the problems of last year, and hit the ground running in with City's brand of compelling - and at times devastating - football.

But, three games in, more and more questions are being asked of a side that dominated the top flight for so long.

So, as they go into a derby against the ever flaky Manchester United, we asked our football writers a simple question: What has shocked you most about Man City's poor start this season?

Matt Barlow

Pep’s City in their prime were synonymous with control. They were so well synchronised they mastered the art of controlling something as unruly as a game of football as completely as any other team in the modern era. They seized possession and dominated the ball. When they lost it, they won it back quickly or found ways to disrupt the game and reorganise before damage could be done at the other end. Almost to the point of it being boring to watch.

This aura vanished for a considerable part of last season.

I, like most others, expected it to return with the new season. That it hasn’t is the biggest shock. That old control eludes them. It makes their games so much more watchable from a neutral perspective and proves just how difficult complete control in elite football is to master. How so many elements must be in tune.

Rodri’s absence was a major factor. Together with the declining influences of Kevin de Bruyne and Ederson. Rodri is back from injury but the other two have gone and the perfect balance required if they are to do what they try to do is lost. It is more complicated than simply replacing one player with another and with the lack of preparation time after the Club World Cup perhaps it should not be such a shock.

They will have to fathom out a solution as they go and with a congested schedule ahead it might take time but I would be most shocked if they are not in the top four at the end of the season.

Ian Herbert

I've been shocked by Pep Guardiola’s apparent acceptance of how poor they’ve been.

As a manager whose players have always found themselves ostracised by Guardiola the minute he’d decided they weren’t doing it for him, his apparent acceptance of the poor marking and pressing in post-match interviews suggests that he’s lost just as much intensity as they have.

His talk after the defeat at home to Spurs was so far removed from what we’ve come to expect in him. ‘It happens sometimes against Spurs. They punish us always in that position in one action. We have to play in different way to the way we play.’

Yes, there have been many personnel changes and City are adapting to that. But shouldn’t they know how they need to play? Isn’t that something Guardiola drums into them?

It was so surprising to hear him speak that way after a desultory home defeat to Spurs at the start of what is supposed to be the season when his once imperious team prove that the struggles of the last campaign were only a blip.

It’s hard to avoid the impression that some of the light has gone out on Guardiola, with his great friend, compatriot and mentor Txiki Begiristain now gone. Is the seemingly never-ending shadow of the 130 charges City face a contributing factor to him seeming to have lost some of his legendary intensity? It is impossible to know for sure – but perhaps.

Though he continues publicly to defend the club against allegations of financial impropriety, a negative outcome in that case would be a stain on all that he has achieved at City. For most professionals in his position, a shadow on the wall like that would certainly take a toll after so long.

Lewis Steele

Anyone who is shocked by the early-season performances clearly did not watch them last year. Manchester City thrashed Wolves 4-0 on the opening day and we all thought they were back… then two defeats (featuring the annual loss to Tottenham) and, wow, everyone seems surprised by it.

There have been positive signs in both defeats and I don’t think it is time to have a whole root-and-branch review, though I would not feel optimistic going into the Manchester derby if I were a City fan.

The main thing City are lacking is that player who can take a tight game by the scruff of its neck and win it, like a Kevin De Bruyne magic moment, a Phil Foden (remember him?) goal from nowhere, even a Riyad Mahrez or Bernardo Silva or Rodri bolt from the blue. They are lacking that at the moment and I also think the squad lacks leaders.

Injuries are also a problem. Is John Stones EVER fully fit and where is Josko Gvardiol? Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush, two bright sparks, are both out, while Rodri is clearly not there yet. Without these, Erling Haaland is not getting the service he needs and Pep Guardiola’s men are struggling.

One more thing. We pretty much know what we will get this year with Liverpool and Arsenal, the main title rivals. For City, there are too many question marks. If they all have positive answers, they can do it — but there seems too many ifs, buts and maybes.

Can Foden rediscover his best form and fitness? Will Rodri be back to anywhere near his best? How much influence can young star Oscar Bobb have? Will Gigi Donnarumma fit in as a No 1? How will the other new signings fare? Can Haaland contribute more? Will Ruben Dias and Co be better defensively? Can they win a league without a recognised right back?

You see. The list goes on but thankfully for you readers, this rant does not go on.

Jack Gaughan

The biggest surprise? The complete change in energy from the open training session we witnessed, and then the 4-0 victory at Wolves, to that listless defeat at Brighton before the international break.

There didn’t seem a great deal of ideas from those on the pitch or in the dugout as Brighton swarmed all over them in scenes reminiscent to the defeat at the Amex Stadium last season.

It had become clear during the Club World Cup and in the truncated pre-season that Pep Guardiola had been re-energised with new coaches – notably Pep Lijnders – but the performance down at Brighton, following on from Tottenham, saw him pretty browbeaten already.

In that sense, the internationals probably came at a good time for City, who have now resolved the futures of the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Manuel Akanji in what now looks a more streamlined squad - without passengers with no prospect of featuring.

This injection of new signings, at significant expense, ought to have provided them with more of a boost than it has up until this point. But then a Manchester derby at home is the perfect opportunity to turn the tide.

Nathan Salt

The truth is Manchester City lost their fear factor a while back.

I have sat in many an opposition manager’s press conference after a defeat to Manchester City where they would concede, in a roundabout way, that Plan A was to try and keep the damage to a minimum.

Teams don’t fear City now - and they shouldn’t. They lack cohesion and look more like a side dependent on individual moments of brilliance than ever before.

Go back to December 21, 2024, after a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa with Manchester City down in sixth, nine points behind Liverpool and having played two games more.

Asked what was going wrong then, Pep Guardiola quipped: 'We struggle to score and we concede goals.’

This is City’s roughest run in a decade, basically since Guardiola arrived in 2016.

Defensively they look uncertain, while in attack they are struggling to put teams away.

Omar Marmoush is injured, as is summer signing Rayan Cherki. They sold Julian Alvarez back in 2024, let Kevin De Bruyne leave for Napoli in the summer, have Phil Foden struggling for fitness and are relying on the, largely unreliable, goal returns of Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Bernardo Silva to plug gaps.

Manchester City could comfortably beat Manchester United on Sunday and ease the critique for a day or two. But United won’t fear City, neither will Napoli a few days later, or Arsenal the following weekend.

Sixty five points from their last 38 Premier League matches tells us all that City have underperformed for some time, only now it’s smacking us right in the face.