Manchester City Slip to Third as Errors Pile Up Under Maresca
Manchester City have dropped to third in the Premier League after three straight defeats, and they now sit six points behind leaders Arsenal.
The season had started in a very different way. City opened with seven consecutive league wins, a start described as a record, and went top of the table under their new manager, Enzo Maresca. He took over from Pep Guardiola in the summer, so the first months were always going to be watched closely.
The club's problems off the pitch arrived in September. City were found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules. They are appealing the verdict, which means asking a higher body to look at the decision again, and they have kept playing matches while that appeal is decided.
The verdict was announced during the international break, the pause when national teams play. City's first game back was at Anfield, where they beat Liverpool, who had been reduced to ten men. They then beat Ipswich at the Etihad Stadium. After that came defeats to Aston Villa, Brighton and Nottingham Forest, and the slide was complete.
The defensive figures make the change clear. BBC Sport reports that City gave away no goals through individual errors in their first seven games. In the three defeats that followed, four mistakes by individual players contributed to goals. After ten league matches, City have conceded 13 goals, their highest total at this stage since 2008-09, when they conceded 16.
Why has a side that looked so sharp in August struggled so badly since? BBC Sport's analysis during the November international break asked whether the form comes from the mental strain of living with uncertainty over the punishment, or from tactical problems that Maresca still needs to solve. Neither explanation has been proven, and the club has not been quoted on the cause.
For City fans, the two questions are closely linked. A team that is switched off at the back will lose points whatever the plan on the whiteboard. A team that is nervous about the appeal may find that its basic habits are harder to hold onto. Either way, the table is tight at the top, and three defeats in a row are enough to move a title race quickly. The next few weeks will show whether City can steady the back line, or whether the slide continues.
