Gündoğan points to attitude, not injuries, behind City’s decline
Manchester City midfielder İlkay Gündoğan isn’t putting too much weight on the impact of injuries this season, even though they’ve clearly played a role.
Many believe City’s underwhelming run this campaign is mainly due to a string of injuries. Others blame it on the aging squad. But Gündoğan sees it differently. In his eyes, the real issue is behavioral — a lack of hunger and drive within the team.
Under Pep Guardiola, City have won six of the last seven Premier League titles. Last season, they made history by becoming the first team to win the Premier League four times in a row. But this time around, that same team has fallen far from the title race.
After a string of poor performances, they were effectively out of the running early on. Now, City are battling just to finish in the top five to secure a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Gündoğan does acknowledge that losing star midfielder Rodri for much of the season has had a negative impact. But he insists the bigger issue lies in the team’s mindset. According to the German international, the collective desire that once drove the team forward has often been missing this year. He didn’t hold back during his interview with ESPN.
“In many matches, I felt like we were overthinking tactics and not paying enough attention to the mindset of the players.”
“Keeping that determination in the squad, the intense desire to win, the killer instinct — those were lacking. It’s the small things that make a difference in football. But instead of focusing on them, maybe we’ve been too caught up in staying in position or other tactical matters. We might’ve lost those core values that should naturally exist in every player.”
After a dreadful run during November and December, Guardiola’s side is slowly starting to bounce back. They’re currently unbeaten in their last four games across all competitions — though they’ve managed to win only one of their last three Premier League matches.
With seven games remaining, City’s focus now is solely on securing a top-five finish to guarantee Champions League football next season.
Usually, the Premier League’s top four teams qualify for Europe’s elite tournament. However, Arsenal’s recent win in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final has secured England a top-two spot in UEFA’s association club coefficient rankings. As a result, five Premier League clubs will get direct entry to next season’s competition.
City currently sit sixth in the table with 52 points from 31 matches. Just above them, Newcastle United have 53 points from one fewer game. Chelsea, also on 53 points, have played the same number of matches as City and sit in fourth.
Liverpool look well on course to reclaim the title. They top the table with 73 points from 31 matches, holding an 11-point lead over second-placed Arsenal.
