'They're not back' - Manchester City still 'too vulnerable' despite reaching UEFA Champions League play-offs
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Updated 29/01/2025 at 23:56 GMT
Karen Carney and Ally McCoist both remain unconvinced that Manchester City are back to their best, despite Pep Guardiola's side landing their sixth win in nine matches. City came from behind to beat Club Brugge on Wednesday night, reaching the UEFA Champions League play-offs in the process. Both Carney and McCoist think there is still a gaping hole in the team, left by the injured Rodri.
Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD8 match between Manchester City and Club Brugge KV at City of Manchester Stadium on January 29, 2025 in Manchester, England
Image credit: Getty Images
TNT Sports experts Karen Carney and Ally McCoist believes there is still a lot of work for Manchester City to do if they are to get back to their top level.
Pep Guardiola's side squeezed into the UEFA Champions League play-offs with a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge on Wednesday night, with the 2023 winners battling back from a goal down.
It means they now face a two-legged tie against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich to try and reach the last 16.
But Carney remains unconvinced that City can have a big impact on the knock-out stages.
"I'm not sure they can be the old City," she said on Goal Shows Xtra. "Especially without Rodri, I don't think they can.
"Even against Chelsea [a 3-1 win] they had to go a different way and tonight they have again. They still look too vulnerable in the transition.
"We saw against PSG, any team that has physicality, speed, skills in the wide areas, they look very vulnerable. There were elements of that tonight, he has to tighten up.
"This is a big task for Pep, had they gone out tonight. He's always made the knockout stages. At 1-0 I was fearing for them big time. But Pep is the master, super sub and changed the game."
It has been a tough season for City, who have won each of the last four Premier League titles.
They look unlikely to add to that record this campaign though, given they sit 12 points behind leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand.
That deficit is largely down to a miserable run of one win in nine outings between the back of October and late December.
Things have picked up of late, with City winning four of their last five fixtures in the top flight.
But McCoist thinks there is still a long way to go.
"I can't remember a team, and it can happen with teams, but I'm talking a team right at the top, disintegrating before our eyes for a period," he said.
"They're not back. You look at their side, there's a lack of confidence.
"I'm not sure there's a lack of belief, because I think there's a belief there, but it certainly looks like a lack of confidence.
"I think that [Omar] Marmoush, the new striker, will definitely give them something. He looks the one that's capable of going straight into the team.
"But apart from that, I don't think they've got a lot of players that will go in behind and turn a defence against their own goal.
"The new signing will do that, but I also thought [Ruben] Dias – and I know he didn't play – coming back would settle them.
"Clearly they're missing Rodri. That's a given. We have to accept that. I thought Dias would settle them, but it didn't. It absolutely didn't.
"The 35 minutes after they lost the second goal in Paris [against PSG], when Haaland scores, they were unrecognisable. I could not believe I was watching Manchester City.
"It was a game they had to win, they did win, but I'm not sure how many questions they've answered."
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