Guardiola’s frustration after Manchester City’s defeat to Brighton. (AFP)

Manchester City started the new season disastrously after suffering two losses against Tottenham and Brighton, wiping out all the positive hopes left by the team’s big win over Wolverhampton in the first round, and bringing back the disappointment fans experienced last season.

The team’s performance in the last two matches made everyone question what Guardiola has done since last season. Despite impressive summer signings and bringing in Klopp’s former assistant Pep Lijnders, problems quickly appeared, and the team’s flaws were very clear in the past two rounds.

Against Brighton, the team played excellently in the first half and controlled the game, but performance suddenly dropped in the second half, and the team faced many chances against them; when Pep tried to intervene and make changes, the situation did not improve at all.

Pep chose this team’s squad himself, and we should remember how at the end of last season he said he would resign if the squad remained this large, and that he wanted to reduce it; indeed, players he did not want were released, and he was the decision-maker in the departures of De Bruyne and Grealish.

Meanwhile, the management brought in names any coach would wish for in the summer, such as Lijnders, Cherki, and Aïa Nouri, and Lijnders quickly proved that his arrival was to lead City’s midfield, not to act as an assistant. But overall, many problems appeared in the squad depth.

Guardiola insists on using Oscar Bob as a winger; the player is promising for the future but is not currently ready to play such a significant role.

On the other side, Pep uses his winger Doku as a substitute in every match, and we can expect that all clubs in the English Premier League, and perhaps across Europe, now know what Doku will do in every attack; he repeats the same style by trying to withdraw to the flank and then deliver a cross before reaching the final line. Several times against Tottenham, he ran out of time to cross and went out of bounds with the ball.

Additionally, it seems strange that Pep, with all this renewal, keeps Bernardo Silva, who statistics showed was the slowest player in the Premier League last season. After losing much of his past vitality and brilliance, the coach still sees him as a cornerstone of his team and chose him for the new season.

Amid all this, Guardiola is the main one to blame for everything happening with Manchester City; the management fulfilled any coach’s wishes, but his choice of this group of players seems incorrect, in addition to the team losing its preferred style of play and the intensity of pressing it used to show.

From Pep’s statements and ongoing news about his personal life, it appears the coach is not living in stable conditions, and it is very easy to notice his confusion in press conferences. Here we find that Pep is mentally exhausted, and perhaps the biggest mistake he made was renewing his contract with Manchester City, as his talk about needing rest after his contract ends seems realistic, but what he needs more is to stop coaching and get rest now.