While Manchester City have scored 751 goals under Pep Guardiola, none have come in their last two games. Their manager rarely judges performances by goals alone and insisted that City’s performance levels are as high as they have been during his reign.
Yet he conceded that Kevin de Bruyne is below his best, while Kyle Walker accepted the same is true of Jack Grealish. In each case, there was a call for patience, an acceptance that creative players cannot always hit the heights. City did when they beat Club Brugge 5-1 two weeks ago.
If a repeat would be welcome ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby, a bullish Guardiola nevertheless likes much of what he has seen.
“We are playing at an incredible level in the last month or month and a half,” he said, ahead of City's home Champions League game against the Belgian outfit on Wednesday. “In terms of the way we are playing, maybe the best moments since we’ve been here. In terms of the process, and many things, we are doing really, really well.”
City nevertheless exited the League Cup, losing on penalties to West Ham after a 0-0 draw, before Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. It was notable for Guardiola substituting the talismanic De Bruyne when City were looking for an equaliser. Often the most creative player in the Premier League, the Belgian is yet to record an assist in the division this season but Guardiola showed a sense of understanding.
“You cannot imagine how good a player he is,” he said. “He has our complete support. When you have a long career like him, millions of games, you have highs and lows. You cannot perform incredibly well all the time, he knows he can do better.
“We’ll wait for him as I know what he’s doing every day to get to his best. In last eight or nine years he’s had three weeks’ holiday. He’s a human being.
“All the players [are expected] to make their best performance every three days. If players have incredible strength it’s easier but the creative players — to do it every three days — there isn’t a player can do it.”
Club Brugge 1 Manchester City 5: player ratings
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CLUB BRUGGE RATINGS: Simon Mignolet – 5. The busier of the goalkeepers. Sent the wrong way for Mahrez’s penalty. Didn’t make any catastrophic errors but was always at a disadvantage facing City’s strike force. AP Photo -
Clinton Mata – 5. Booked for a late but unintentional foul on Silva. Got in a couple of tackles but couldn’t make the wingback position work when he was forced to chase the game. Forced off after keeping Sterling from adding to City’s lead. AFP -
Jack Hendry – 6. Did well to run with – and force – Foden wide in the early stages, which made the City maestro hit the side netting. Produced a much needed tackle to stop Foden making it a third. Produced a number of clearances, but couldn’t get in the way to stop Mahrez getting his second. Getty Images -
Stanley Nsoki – 5. Conceded a penalty against Mahrez with a foul on the edge of the box, with the 22-year-old unable to get a touch on the ball. Booked. EPA -
Eduard Sobol – 5. Saw an effort in the final minutes go wide. A quiet night for the wingback who was overrun by City. AP Photo -
Kamal Sowah – 5. Let Cancelo run into the box for the goal. He was the only Brugge player to track the Spaniard, but ultimately he couldn’t deal with the defender’s quality. Unafraid to put a tackle in as he looked to stop Grealish and Silva. EPA -
Mats Rits – 5. Unable to get a foothold on the game and contain a strong Manchester City side. Subbed, as Brugge looked for a way back into the game. PA -
Eder Balanta – 6. Balanta knew he had to follow Silva as he weaved through the midfield, and chose to commit the foul. Not always the neatest of tacklers but he put in his fair share of challenges to try and halt City. Getty Images -
Noa Lang – 5. Did well to track back and cover Walker who tried to get forward on the wing at any opportunity during the first half. But struggled to make an impact. Getty Images -
Hans Vanaken – 6. Woke up a shell-shocked home crowd as he slotted a consolation goal into the bottom right corner. PA -
Charles De Ketelaere – 6. Produced a lovely flick to Lang in the early stages with a hint of what could be to come, but he struggled to produce few further moments of quality. Forced Ederson into making a save as Brugge looked for a consolation. AFP -
SUB: Ignace Van Der Brempt (Sowah 56’) 6. Did well to get past a defence who lost a second of concentration, and enabled De Kelelaere to test Ederson. Reuters -
SUB: Ruud Vormer (Rits 56’) 7. Grabbed an assist for Vanaken’s goal and was lively off the bench.. Getty Images -
SUB: Noah Mbamba (Balanta 70’) N/R. The 16-year-old came on as Brugge looked to have waved the white flag. Added a few tackles to spice things up. Reuters -
SUB: Brandon Mechele (N’Soki 79’) N/R. Blocked a shot as the game entered injury time but it a tough time to come off the bench. Reuters -
SUB: Bas Dost (De Ketelaere 79’) – N/R. Would have wanted to hit the target in the 86th minute as he got in front of his defender, but couldn’t convert. Getty Images -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson – 7. Back in the line-up following his time away with Brazil and was able to sit back for much of the game with Brugge unable to trouble his goal. Forced into a save in the final stages of the game. AFP -
Joao Cancelo – 8. Opened the scoring half-an-hour into the game when he broke free and ran into the box, chested down Foden’s cross and held off Sowah to score. Happy to do his defensive duties, too. EPA -
Aymeric Laporte – 7. Subbed just after half time as Guardiola looked ahead to the weekend, with the Spanish international untroubled throughout. Had earlier been booked after lunging into a challenge on Sowah. AP Photo -
Ruben Dias – 7. Captained the side and managed things well at the back, putting in a number of tackles to prevent Brugge from getting close to City’s area. EPA -
Kyle Walker – 7. Always happy to overlap on the wing but his goal came from some excellent movement, when he ran through the centre and slotted home De Bruyne’s pass. AFP -
Kevin de Bruyne – 7. Floated a lovely free-kick into the box for Rodri’s disallowed goal. Saw a tame shot straight at Mignolet ruled offside. Could have grabbed City’s third seconds before the half time whistle with a long-range special. Played Walker in for City’s third. AFP -
Rodri – 7. Thought he’d grabbed the opener only to see his goal flagged for offside. Overall, he was lively in the middle and at the centre of everything for the visitors. Getty Images -
Bernardo Silva – 6. Did extremely well to weave around Balanta as he moved the ball forward. Maybe didn’t have as much as an impact as normal. Reuters -
Riyad Mahrez – 8. Reacted fastest to a ball into the box to win the penalty and sent Mignolet the wrong way to double City’s lead. Could have grabbed his second minutes later but his shot was aimed straight at Mignolet. Slid in a lovely ball for Foden just after the break. Grabbed his second of the night in the final 10 minutes. Reuters -
Jack Grealish – 7. Ran onto a great ball from Foden and produced the perfect ball for Silva, though the Portuguese couldn’t poke it in. Played some lovely stuff but the game was very much run by Mahrez and Foden. AP Photo -
Phil Foden – 9. The pick of the bunch. With no designated striker named in the starting line-up, the youngster thrived. He proved to be a lively influence during the opening stages with some lovely balls across the box. Ran onto a great ball but was forced wide by Hendry and could only manage the side netting. Beautiful ball for Cancelo’s goal. EPA -
SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (Silva 57’) – 6. Given the opportunity to come on after City looked comfortable. Couldn’t meet Walker’s low ball into the box. EPA -
SUB: Nathan Ake (Laporte 57’) – 6. Couldn’t make anything of a cross into the box in the final stages. PA -
SUB: Cole Palmer (De Bruyne 64’) – 7. Will not be forgetting this game any time soon as he slotted past Mignolet with confidence to make it 4-0. EPA -
SUB: Raheem Sterling (Foden 64’) – 7. The driving force behind Palmer’s goal as he opened up Brugge’s defence. Couldn’t add a fifth, though, as he saw a powerful shot fly wide and then later hit the side netting. Lively cameo from the bench. EPA -
SUB: Fernandinho (Rodri 71’) 7. Grabbed an assist with a through ball to Mahrez for City’s fifth. PA
Many of England’s Euro 2020 finalists have struggled to hit the heights after their efforts in the summer. Right-back Walker is an exception, but attributes that to his fitness. Grealish is expected to offer more invention but, after an impressive start to life in Manchester, the £100 million man has a solitary assist in his last eight outings.
Walker feels it can take time to adjust to different gameplan. “He has come into a new team with a new philosophy,” he explained. “We have all seen over the last number of years just what Jack can do: the way he keeps the ball, his dribbling, attracting players, drawing fouls, he is great to watch and I can assure you it is a nightmare for defenders.
“He has not played badly, he’s probably not quite hit the consistent levels he was getting at Aston Villa but we like to share the load here.”
Walker’s belief that a collective commitment is imperative ties in with City’s attempts to source goals from across the team as they adjust after the departure of their record scorer Sergio Aguero. “We are a team, and this team is built on foundations from over the last four years,” he added.
“We lost ‘Kun’ in the summer who was the hero, the standout and the poster boy for this club but apart from that I think everyone is on a level playing field where there are no egos and we all work hard for each other. It is 11 players on the pitch, not one, two, three or four superstars that everyone else runs for.”
