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Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that there is a “definite need” for the Citizens to sign a new creative midfielder to address the “big problem” that was evident in their 1-0 Premier League defeat to Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Callum Hudson-Odoi‘s 83rd-minute goal condemned the reigning champions to their ninth league loss of the campaign and leaves their Champions League hopes in jeopardy.
Despite boasting 70% possession at the City Ground, Pep Guardiola‘s side struggled to create many high-quality openings and registered just three of their 14 attempts on target throughout the contest.
Erling Haaland was starved of service in attack as the likes of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Savinho failed to make their mark in the final third, while substitutes Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush were also unable to make an impact.
While McInerney was able to take some positives from City’s defensive performance, he felt that the Citizens missed a “golden opportunity” to claim three valuable points and has acknowledged that creating chances has become a “big problem” for Guardiola’s side.
“I felt City were definitely better in some aspects than we have been in the past few months, but creatively we had very little to offer,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “A lot of the credit has to go to Forest there because they defended really well. Murillo is a phenomenal player and [Ola] Aina had a cracking time against Doku having previously struggled (in the reverse fixture).
“I think City will feel frustrated by what was a golden opportunity, you would argue, to get three points away at an incredibly tough side to go to, because it didn’t feel impossible to create something.
“Predictable” Man City “struggled creatively” in Forest defeat
“City defended really well for the large part of the game and were in control in terms of possession and so on. It was only when Nico Gonzalez went off and City started to tire towards the end of the second half where we lost our composure a little bit, which led to conceding a very soft goal.
“[Josko] Gvardiol has to do better than let Hudson-Odoi run that far and get a shot away, and Ederson has to do better at the near post because that world-class save he made 10-15 minutes earlier was essentially irrelevant.
“We struggled to create chances after the first 20-25 minutes where City had one or two decent efforts. We struggled creatively and were pretty predictable. Not much dynamism or spark, Doku and Savinho both had an off-day.
“So much of our creativity these days without De Bruyne at his best goes through those two and if they’re not on it, essentially very little is created and we had no real response after they scored their goal.
Will Man City replace De Bruyne this summer?
Man City have heavily relied on the ingenuity of chief playmaker De Bruyne over the years, but at the age of 33, the Belgian has not performed at his best this season and is facing an uncertain future at the Etihad Stadium, with his contract expiring in the summer.
McInerney hopes that Man City will recruit a “proper number 10” in the summer to replace ageing creative outlets such as De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, who are on the wrong side of 30.
The Citizens have been linked with a number of attacking midfielders ahead of next season, with Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz believed to be one name who is high on their list of targets.
“Creativity is a big problem for Man City”
In the short term, McInerney has encouraged the likes of Foden and Bernardo Silva to step up as Man City cannot solely rely on creativity from out wide from players including Doku and Savinho.
“I do think creativity is a big problem for City,” said McInerney. “De Bruyne is the best creator this league has ever seen – and that’s not even my opinion, that’s objective (considering) the rate that he creates chances and the assist records he broken.
“He’s an absurdly talented creator, and understandably and naturally City have leant on him a lot over the years because he’s the best at doing it. [However], De Bruyne looks like he’s on his way out, unfortunately.
“Phil Foden has had a really off season, so the creativity is definitely not coming from him right now. I would argue that as talented as Doku and Savinho are, they’re still a little bit below the level of a peak [Riyad] Mahrez or someone like that… They’re very young wingers, they’ll get better as they get older. Who knows the return of Oscar Bobb could change that for next season too.
“Maybe the talented [Claudio] Echeverri is one for the future, but there is a definite need I would say for, with De Bruyne about to move on, [for City to sign] a proper number 10, a really creative player who can up the volume of chances and get us ticking differently.
“I know Rodri returning will make a difference and so on, but I do think creativity and probably technical brilliance in the middle is an issue that City will have to address. Go back to the treble-winning team, which is only about 20 months ago, it was Rodri, Gundogan – so smart and intelligent – and De Bruyne – an incredible passer from any angle with either foot – in midfield. We don’t really have anything close to that right now.
“Gundogan’s not there, Rodri’s not there and Foden is not really stepping up creatively. It’s a real issue. We can’t just rely on our wingers, we need ingenuity from the centre and we’ve got none of that currently, unfortunately.
‘De Bruyne was a genius, but this De Bruyne is not a genius’
“You’re not getting that from Bernardo, you’re not getting it from Foden currently, Gundogan and De Bruyne are on the way out, and you’re not really getting it from [Mateo] Kovacic or Nico Gonzalez either because they’re not essentially creators.
“I think City’s midfield is an issue. It currently feels as if it’s either the wingers do something (create chances) or no-one does.”
McInerney added: “Unfortunately, the creative outlets have gotten old, have moved on or aren’t available due to injury and so on. I think Gundogan and De Bruyne aren’t it anymore. There’s still quality in De Bruyne I’m sure, but the difference between De Bruyne [in previous seasons] and where he’s at now is ridiculous. He was a genius and this De Bruyne right now with his age is not a genius.
“He’s a very good player, but we’re [comparing] a very good player to one of the best to ever do it. There’s such a big difference between those two standards.
“I think when you add Foden out of form to that – he has to do better next season, I’m sure he will do – unfortunately I don’t think there’s much more we can do right now.
“If an opponent is as good as Forest and as well organised as they are defensively, then I don’t think we’ve got much of a solution right now, until either Rodri comes back and Foden finds his form, or we bring in another creative player.”
Will Man City qualify for the Champions League?
Meanwhile, McInerney has also shared his thoughts on the hotly-contested race to secure Champions League football for next season and has predicted how many of Man City remaining 10 league games they will win before the campaign comes to a close.
Defeat to third-placed Forest last time out has seen Man City slip to fifth in the top-flight standings, two points behind Chelsea in fourth, while Fulham down in 10th are only five points further back.
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