Ilkay Gundogan comments on Shakhtar draw suggest something wrong with Manchester City

Pep Guardiola’s side comfortably reached the Champions League knockout stages – but after two seasons of superlative football, his side are yet to regain those heights

Is there something not quite right with Manchester City? Pep Guardiola’s side are through to the knockout stages of the Champions League after Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk and a point was always going to be enough to achieve that, but their performance was less than impressive and one of several underwhelming recent displays.

Guardiola has of late been complaining that the criticism of his team is often result-specific. When they win they are praised but when they do not questions are suddenly asked. It is a fair point, especially as some of us asking these questions now were hailing this team’s resolve only three days ago after their victory against an in-form Chelsea.

But the standards which City have set over two peerless years of success are their own worst enemy at the moment. They can still be brilliant on their day, but that day is not coming around as regularly as it did last season or the one before. Ilkay Gundogan, scorer of their only goal against Shakhtar, is often candid in his analysis and admitted as much post-match.

“When you want to become a top team and fight in all the competitions, you are not allowed to concede goals in every game,” he said, fully aware that City have just one clean sheet in their last eight matches. “Obviously, with all the injuries we are having, all the changes in the squad, sometimes it's not easy, but I think there is enough quality in our team, even with the injuries, to be able to play without conceding a goal."

Gundogan was equally honest about City’s domestic performances, which have left them nine points off the pace in the Premier League. “We have dropped unnecessary points in a few games already, and to remain at the top, you are not allowed to,” he said. “We need to be there if Liverpool slip and we are through in the Champions League, but there is still plenty of work to improve. Not results, but more the way we play.”

The way City play is changing slightly. Despite two seasons of near-constant success with one holding midfielder in a 4-3-3 system, Guardiola has started deploying two deep-lying players and a No 10 ahead of them. With Aymeric Laporte injured and Fernandinho now his most reliable centre-half, he seems to want a little extra security in front of the back four. Instead, he is getting little defensive benefit and losing much more going forward.

Rodri is particularly struggling, having come back from injury just before the international break. He may yet prove to be a success. Most City players are. But he is being asked to patrol the same vast open spaces that Fernandinho used to command and, at the moment, he is not quite living up to his predecessor. Gundogan does not press, harry and challenge opponents in the same way as the Brazilian either. It is leading to issues behind them.

Rodri struggled for City (Getty)

There were several times on Tuesday night when Shakhtar looked to play the ball over the top of City’s backline into one of the channels, isolate a defender, beat him and burst through one-on-one. Angelino was their preferred target. One such move almost ended terribly for Ederson, who miskicked a clearance and allowed Tete a free run at an open goal. City were lucky that the Shakhtar winger shot from a narrow angle and missed.

That was a rare mistake which is unlikely to be repeated. But the concern is that this was exactly how Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kanté combined to exploit City’s malfunctioning midfield to open the scoring on Saturday. The ease with which Liverpool cut through Guardiola’s side to score three times at Anfield was put down to their usual devastating counter-attacking play, but did that also have more to do with City’s imperfect set-up?

It would be wrong to read too much into a night when only a point was required to achieve the target for the evening. Guardiola did not appear overly concerned in his post-match press conference, instead pointing to Shakhtar’s quality and deep defending. But after two relatively serene seasons of superlative football, City are yet to consistently hit those same heights, as Gundogan rightly points out. They will play in the Champions League knockout stages and by February, they will still probably be favourites to win it outright, but Guardiola has much to ponder between now and then.