Guardiola has lost his technical football touch; Manchester City, a team of tough players, can’t play possession football and suffered a complete defeat to Villa, now ranking 6th.

During the 9th round of the Premier League, Manchester City played away against Aston Villa, where Guardiola’s tactics backfired. What looked like a 4-1-4-1 formation actually saw center-back Stones pushed forward to defensive midfield. Stones and Reyna, both technically limited players, failed to execute possession football, leading to Villa’s control over the game, especially in midfield. Despite Haaland’s ongoing streak of 12 consecutive scoring matches, City couldn’t break through. Ultimately, Villa’s right-back Cash scored the winning goal, and City lost 0-1 away, marking their third league defeat this season. Meanwhile, Arsenal continued their strong run with a 1-0 win over the tough Crystal Palace, extending their lead over City to 6 points. Liverpool suffered a fourth consecutive league loss, and it seems Arsenal might already have no real challengers for the Premier League title this season, much like Liverpool last year.

Since his divorce, Guardiola’s tactical and professional abilities have seriously declined, and this season City has been carried mainly by Haaland’s 12-game scoring streak. City lost 0-1 to Aston Villa with players like Doku, Shelkey, Marmoush, and Gonzalez all on the bench. Reyna’s style suits overlapping runs from the back rather than the technical midfield role required for possession football. Additionally, the wide players Savinho and Boub are ineffective, leaving Haaland isolated and Foden as the only creative outlet. This season, City has completely lost their technical style, failing to control midfield and performing worse than Villa on the field. Guardiola’s City is facing a major bottleneck that cannot be fixed simply by buying players; perhaps it’s time for a managerial change.

After 9 rounds of the Premier League,Arsenal leads by 4 points, followed by Bournemouth in second, Tottenham third, and promoted Sunderland in fourth.No one could have predicted this top four! Meanwhile, both Manchester City and Manchester United have 16 points. Guardiola is like Amorim, and this Premier League season seems completely chaotic. Time flies, and maybe it’s Arsenal’s season to claim the Premier League title again. Keep it up, Arsenal!