The loss of injured midfielder Rodri and “poor” recruitment in midfield in recent seasons have been pivotal in Manchester City’s run of five successive defeats, according to ex-Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher.
“Rodri is the obvious one but the problem they have got is the players they have brought into the midfield have struggled,” said Carragher on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
“It was a problem last season, in terms of conceding goals on the counter-attack, but there were lots of problems there. A lot of the goals I look at [this season] come down to midfield.
“Rodri is a huge miss, but the player profile of who they have brought in – people say they have brought older players in like Kovacic and Gundogan, but the younger players they brought in didn’t work.
“They’re playing Nunes out wide when he plays, when he was bought as a central midfield player, and there’s also Kalvin Phillips, so their recruitment in that area has been really poor and that’s what’s really costing them right now.”
City’s next Premier League match is at leaders Liverpool on Sunday and they would be 11 points behind the Reds if they lose at Anfield.
“If you go 11 points clear of a rival and you’ve only got to play them one more time as well, I think it is a long way back for City,” added Carragher.
“It’s not so much the points, it’s watching City. I think with 26 games to go, the way City are right now, you could probably still see them losing another four or five games of those 26.
“You can’t win the league if you lose six or seven games. I think it will be tough for City if they don’t get the result they want at the weekend.”