Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday was the Citizens first defeat under Pep Guardiola. The loss followed on from the 3-3 draw at Celtic in the Champions League.
It is far too soon to say the wheels have come off, but it will be interesting to see how Guardiola and his players react to their first real setback.
One man whose performances have been questioned is City’s Chilean number one Claudio Bravo. Despite saving a penalty kick against Tottenham his ability to organise his defence and give confidence to the players in front of him have been questioned.
He has looked nervous in previous games for City. The experienced ‘keeper will have to do a lot to convince fans after being signed as a replacement for long-term number Joe Hart.
Guardiola’s teams do not tend to endure prolonged spells of bad form, as the Catalan boss tends to lift his sides pretty quickly after defeats.
His team have made a bright start to the campaign. However, it has not all been plain sailing for the Citizens this season so far. The absence of Belgian playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and Spanish winger Nolito took away some of the Citizens attacking edge against Spurs.
De Bruyne has started the campaign in fine form, while Nolito had made a promising start to his Citizens career, only to be dismissed against Bournemouth and earn himself a suspension.
Guardiola now has the international break to contemplate what went wrong in north London. The Catalan boss needs to come up with answers quickly with Ronald Koeman’s Everton heading to the Etihad Stadium in just under two weeks’ time.
Maybe a dose of reality will be good for City in the long-term under Guardiola. One thing is for sure, the Citizens have too much quality to fade away this season and will bounce back to winning ways in the near future.