[ad_1]
‘Some of last season’s wounds are reappearing’: Gary Neville says Pep Guardiola faces ‘one of his biggest jobs in football’ to regain the Premier League title with Manchester City after shocking Leicester defeat
- Leicester surprised Manchester City with a 5-2 win at the Etihad Stadium
- The defeat cast doubt on City’s ability to claim their Premier League crown.
- Gary Neville said Liverpool will have earned the trust of City’s display
- And the former Man United defender said City look good off the Reds’ pace.
Gary Neville believes Pep Guardiola faces one of the biggest tasks of his coaching career to regain the Premier League title after watching his Manchester City team capitulate against Leicester.
Brendan Rodgers’ men stunned Man City in a 5-2 victory in which Eric Garcia, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy gave away three penalties to the visitors and cast more doubt on whether Guardiola’s men can take away the Premier crown. League to Liverpool this year.
Despite Riyad Mahrez giving Man City the lead within four minutes of their first Premier League home game of the new season, the visitors came back and took the victory with a hat-trick from Jamie Vardy and goals from James Maddison and Youri Tielemans.
Gary Neville believes that Pep Guardiola faces one of the biggest tasks of his career as a coach
Guardiola saw his Manchester City team capitulate against a Jamie Vardy-inspired Leicester
And Neville claimed that old wounds from the previous season had reared their ugly heads again during the Fox attack.
“They were so good in the first 25 minutes, but as soon as Leicester broke them a couple of times, you felt like, psychologically, it just damaged them,” Neville told Sky Sports.
‘Some of the wounds from last season are reappearing. The bugs that cost them the title. You can certainly get to this Manchester City four behind a lot faster than before. They don’t seem to react on the transition higher as they did.
And Gary Neville (forward) believes City are facing an uphill battle to regain the Premier League
‘He [Guardiola] has set the standard. Is it fair to say that while you are on the touchline today without a title last season, you have the biggest job you have probably ever had in football right now, to win the title again?
“I could go two seasons without him because they look good behind Liverpool compared to what we saw at Stamford Bridge last week.
“We know the standard that Liverpool is setting. When you think about the business they have done in the last week. I know it is early, but Liverpool will be watching this game and they will gain confidence with this. You do.
“It is not that they are thinking that they are going to win the league because City is not in it. There is a long way to go, but when you see your main opponents lose like this, it just cheers you up. It makes you feel stronger. ‘
Neville added that City’s chaotic display would have given Jurgen Klopp’s men confidence.
Graeme Souness also told Sky Sports that he believes Jurgen Klopp’s team will take the title again this year after City’s chaotic defensive display.
‘Liverpool won by 18 points (last season). Liverpool in my opinion has grown strong in a big way.
“ I look at City now if Ruben Dias comes in, it will have to be more than Dias to bring 18-point City behind Liverpool to get ahead of them. Liverpool are stronger today than 12 months ago. That’s a marker, when you look at what the City has shown.
Ruben Dias is expected to sign for City shortly after saying goodbye to Benfica on Saturday
“After all the teams we’ve seen that can challenge, it’s Leicester after today, but we’ve been in three games. Some players need five or six (games) to catch up. But right now, I think Liverpool could get away with that. ”
Dias is expected to sign for City shortly after saying goodbye to Benfica on Saturday, and Guardiola invested heavily in his defense again and already signed Nathan Ake for £ 35 million this summer.
Dias will cost around £ 64 million, while Nicolas Otamendi will do the opposite for around £ 14 million.
