Pep Guardiola and crisis are two terms that have rarely been associated with one another in the Spaniard’s legendary two-decade managerial career.
Indeed the iconic coach, normally so confident and cool, probably does not know the meaning of the word. Why should he after 39 major honours and barely a foot out of place across successful stints at three top clubs?
And yet here we are: Manchester City and Guardiola are in a crisis. The side made it six games without a win with a frankly embarrassing debacle at home against Feyenoord on Tuesday which saw them blow a three-goal lead in the Champions League for the first time in their history.
The Catalan coach has never gone winless in seven before, and the five painful defeats which preceded the chaotic European stalemate was the longest losing streak in his career.
It’s all taking its toll on the man at the helm, with Guardiola sparking concerns about his mental well-being after appearing at a post-match press conference with scratches on his head and a cut on his nose before joking he wanted to ‘self-harm’ and later apologising.
He will have to get back on his horse again ahead of a crunch match against Liverpool at Anfield this weekend after signing a new contract extension last week to keep him at City until at least 2026.
Pep Guardiola is in the midst of the worst run of his career, going six matches without a win
City plumbed new depths after blowing a three-goal lead in the last 15 minutes versus Feyenoord
Guardiola was left with a number of cuts and marks after the Champions League debacle
Most managers look to the past for inspiration as to how a crisis can be solved but, as we have established, Guardiola is in unchartered territory.
That being said, the 53-year-old has been around long enough to experience a sticky patch or two, if not a full-blown all-hands-on-deck catastrophe, and he might be wise to reflect on how he dug himself out of those holes.
One such scenario came within weeks of arriving at the Etihad, while speculation was still swirling as to how Guardiola might cope in the world’s most competitive league.
In the only comparable run to the one he finds himself in the middle of now, City went six matches without a win from September to October 2016.
It included a Dele Alli-inspired defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, a 4-0 mauling at the hands of Guardiola’s former side Barcelona, and a loss to bitter rivals Man United.
The debacle at the Nou Camp was his joint biggest defeat as a manager, with last Saturday’s 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Spurs only the fourth instance of such a wide losing margin in his career.
The manager responded in brutal fashion, dropping Vincent Kompany for Nicolas Otamendi, bringing in Nolito for Leroy Sane and replacing Kevin de Bruyne with Fernando to form a four at the back in a 4-0 win of their own over West Bromwich Albion.
The likes of De Bruyne and Kompany eventually earned back their places, with the former impressing with a goal in the return match against Barcelona, but a message had been sent.
The Spanish boss faced teething problems in his first season as City boss going winless in six
They were beaten 2-0 by a Tottenham side inspired by an in-form Dele Alli
City also crashed to defeat at the hands of Southampton and Guardiola soon shuffled his deck
Guardiola also learned to dispose of the five-at-the-back formation, placing Otamendi at the heart of his defence and integrating left-back Gael Clichy into his plans.
He had also seen enough of centre-forward Stefan Jovetic and the Montenegran departed in January to be replaced by a 19-year-old Gabriel Jesus who impressed with seven goals in 11 games as City recovered to finish third.
It was not all plain-sailing, however, and one of two instances where the Spaniard went exactly four games without a win also occurred in his opening season.
City let slip a 5-3 advantage in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Monaco by losing 3-1 to a Kylian Mbappe-inspired side in France.
Crashing out of Europe damaged their confidence in the Premier League and they drew 1-1 against Liverpool and 2-2 versus Arsenal, before falling to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
In reality, City just got caught in the middle of a run from hell, facing eventual champions Chelsea and two of the other teams who made up the top five, after a galling Champions League night.
Guardiola did not need to tweak much for the results to return and the Etihad side kickstarted their run-in with a win over Hull City just three days after their Stamford Bridge defeat.
Aside from his teething problems at the Etihad, Guardiola had only gone five games without a win once before the current crisis and that was in his very first season as Barcelona boss.
Kylian Mbappe helped to inflict a disastrous Champions League defeat on Man City in 2017
The defeat led to a miserable run in the Premier League with City losing to Chelsea
As with many of Pep Guardiola’s bad runs it was solved by an easy fixture, this time versus Hull
Failing to win just three matches by February 2009, the Catalan side were flying but hit a brick wall in a troublesome month as Guardiola was forced to negotiate the first tough spell of his career.
The run included their first home defeat in La Liga that season, against local rivals Espanyol, and a 4-3 defeat away at Atletico Madrid. A disappointing run of form but not in the same stratosphere as the current debacle.
Barcelona’s team that campaign was one of the best the game has ever seen, boasting the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi. So good, in fact, that Guardiola wisely stuck to his guns and the results ended up coming.
He did make a couple of adjustments, reintegrating Carles Puyol after a few games out of the team, and bringing a young Sergio Busquets more heavily into the fold.
The ship was eventually steadied and Guardiola picked up a historic treble of the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey.
The only other occasion when the Spanish boss has gone four without a win came while he was Bayern Munich boss in 2015.
The run was actually the first time Guardiola had lost three in a row in his career, a record not to be beaten until City’s recent defeat to Brighton made it four straight losses for the manager.
The slump in Bavaria really encapsulated four consecutive losses if you include the first match which saw Bayern crash out of the DFB-Pokal to Borussia Dortmund on penalties.
Guardiola suffered a minor blip in an otherwise immensely successful first season at Barcelona
The likes of Thierry Henry formed a dream team which struggled to five games without a win
But Guardiola stuck to his guns and Lionel Messi helped the side to a victory over Athletic Bilbao
A Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equaliser took the semi-final to spot kicks that day before Guardiola’s men missed all four of their attempts.
During the run, Bayern lost two Bundesliga matches as they took their foot off the accelerator having already wrapped up the title. The first against Bayer Leverkusen was a result of a raft of changes while the second versus Augsburg was influenced by a red card for goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
In between those two defeats, Guardiola suffered a truly damaging night at the hands of Barcelona.
Bayern’s game plan was to cling on for a vital away draw in the semi-final of the Champions League and they looked to be executing it to perfection with the match goalless after 77 minutes.
But some late fireworks from Messi and Neymar blew the German outfit away and took Barcelona to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage.
It was somewhat difficult for Guardiola to respond, given that his side’s season was all but over, but he utilised some retail therapy in the summer months to cure his end-of-season blues.
Bayern splashed the cash on experienced midfielder Arturo Vidal and exciting winger Douglas Costa, while also adding a 20-year-old Joshua Kimmich and 19-year-old Kingsley Coman to their stacked squad.
They ended up winning the league and cup double the following year to put their disappointing end to the previous campaign behind them.
Guardiola and Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp almost came to blows after Bayern lost on penalties
The result prompted an atrocious run which also saw Bayern crash out of the Champions League
Guardiola sorted the issue by spending money, including on midfielder Arturo Vidal
Guardiola can use these previous sagas as a reference point for his current woes but none quite compare to the crisis he finds himself in now.
He had never lost five in a row before the debacle of the last month or so, while the collapse against Feyenoord has no precedent in the annals of Guardiola history.
In most of the above dry spells, the coach was helped out by a favourable fixture to haul his side out of the crisis or, in the case of Bayern’s late-season capitulation, a summer of rest.
No such luxury here. Guardiola’s men face up against high-flying Liverpool next with the Reds a whopping eight points clear at the top of the league.
Indeed, on Wednesday, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan accepted that their title campaign would probably be over if they did not narrow the gap with a win at Anfield on Sunday.
It’s the toughest fixture imaginable but a hard-fought victory would certainly help to blow away some of the cobwebs accrued over the last few weeks.
In two cases, Guardiola put on his best Oliver Twist face and asked for more from his owners, embarking on spending sprees at Bayern in 2015 and City in 2017 to invest his way out of a crisis.
That could be an option this time with the Etihad hierarchy not exactly known for their thriftiness. Furthermore, the manager’s recent contract extension might have been contingent on receiving some funds to boost a side which has suffered some serious injuries.
A dip into the transfer market could be necessary after injuries to the likes of Rodri
Guardiola does not have the luxury of an easy fixture next, with leaders Liverpool awaiting them
The onus is now on leaders, including Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne, to start performing
Balon d’Or winner Rodri has been ruled out for the season with a knee ligament injury, while promising talent Oscar Bobb and stalwart centre-back Ruben Dias have spent time on the sidelines. If the money is there, Guardiola will make the argument that it needs spending.
Very rarely has the Catalan coach rocked the boat and made wholesale changes, the one possible instance being when he tweaked his City side in his opening season in a bid to decide on his best team.
It seems unlikely that he will do that now. Despite his concerning behaviour on Tuesday night, there is the coolest of heads underneath Guardiola’s feisty facade and he knows his squad inside-out.
It is now time for experienced figures such as Gundogan, De Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva to step up and save City’s season.
