Manchester City slumped to a disappointing defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Stadium.
City were 1-0 up and cruising thanks to Erling Haaland’s first half goal, but a James Milner penalty and late goal from Brajan Gruda was enough to earn the Seagulls three points.
The first 60 minutes from City were exceptionally positive, but they were by far the second best team for the final third of the match, with Matheus Nunes’s ridiculous handball leading to the penalty
being the match’s turning point.
Here are three things we learned from defeat on the south coast:
Build up is a worry going forwards
I don’t want seem to harsh on James Trafford – I think he’s an excellent young goalkeeper who, despite the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma, will be City’s first choice goalkeeper one day.
But at this moment in time, City aren’t in a good position to have a goalkeeper of his or Donnarumma’s profile.
Both of them are exceptional shot stoppers – better than Stefan Ortega and certainly Ederson. But both of them are average at plying out from the back, a huge feature of what Pep Guardiola has previously demanded of his goalkeepers.
That means we’ll see a lot more of what was evident against Brighton; long balls launched up the pitch in the hope that Haaland wins the first ball and a midfielder wins the second.
But none of City’s midfielders are the ball winning type. Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan are all more comfortable playing possession based football, rather than scrapping for second balls and winning duels in midfield.
Some of City’s attackers, however, particularly Haaland and Omar Marmoush, might suit a more transitional type of play, but the weak defence (particularly in the full back areas) will struggle under increased stress.
Ederson had a poor year last season and might have run his race, but I also feel like City will suffer more than most people suspect they will in his absence.
Wing options are very poor
It’s been a mental window for City in terms of outgoings and ingoings, but I’m not entirely convinced they’ve nailed it.
The main point here is a lack of quality on both wings. Every player is a prospect, a talented player who we’re waiting to explode.
Oscar Bobb for me is by far the best of them. He was very good against Wolves, ok against Tottenham, good in the first half against Brighton but very poor in the second period. I do think though, that after almost a year out with injury, he’ll improve to be more consistent and be good enough to be a reliable squad player in a title winning team at least.
Savinho and Jeremy Doku, however, as I’ve documented before, aren’t good enough to start in a title winning team for City, in my opinion.
Both are too unreliable with their end product and don’t offer enough goals and assists. To be fair, neither did Jack Grealish or Bernardo Silva when City won the treble, but they contributed hugely in other ways.
Omar Marmoush is showing more promise. He excels in certain conditions, with a flying left back overlapping him. He was the best player on the pitch in the first half, before being replaced by Doku in the second period.
I understand that City won’t have wanted to sell Savinho and run the risk of him being the next Cole Palmer. But with the replacement being a clear upgrade in Rodrygo, I think City will live to regret it.
Khusanov is an important asset
He was by no means faultless against the Seagulls, but Abdukodir Khusanov should be a starting centre back going forwards for City.
The Uzbekistan international joined in January, and had an extremely underrated first six months in a City shirt.
He’s already shown his worth with his blistering pace, which bailed City out a few times against Brighton. His improvement in aerial duels, ball playing and ball carrying is also notable.
City’s number 45 was indirectly at fault for the first goal however. His rash, crunching tackle led to the free kick in the build up to the penalty, and while most of the blame must go to Matheus Nunes for a ridiculous handball, Khusanov’s misjudgement started the move.
Nonetheless, I think at the moment he deserves to start for City, and his pace is a really valuable asset with the new aggressive high line City are operating with.
Hopefully the calf injury that forced him off late on and has seen him drop out of international duty doesn’t mean he’ll be ruled out for the derby, because I think he’ll be needed.
