Thursday 3 March 2016 16:44, UK
Pep Guardiola's first job at the Etihad Stadium should be to sort out Manchester City's leaky defence after their frailties were exposed again in Wednesday's 3-0 defeat by Liverpool.
That's the view of former City manager Stuart Pearce, who watched his old side come crashing back down to earth just three days after their Capital One Cup final success against the Reds at Wembley.
Liverpool claimed their revenge in ruthless style at Anfield, with Adam Lallana, James Milner and Roberto Firmino capitalising on City' sloppiness and repeatedly cutting through their backline. The defeat keeps Manuel Pellegrini's side 10 points adrift of leaders Leicester City, and they are now level with rivals Manchester United and only a point ahead of West Ham.
The problems are piling up after consecutive Premier League defeats to Leicester, Tottenham and Liverpool, and their defensive issues are a particular cause for concern. City have now conceded 31 goals this season - more than Watford and Southampton and their highest total after 27 games since 2010.
"I wasn't surprise by Wednesday's result because, coming out of the weekend, Liverpool had something to prove in front of their own fans and they had a bit of fire in their bellies," Pearce told Sky Sports. "Quite often that is the case. One team will win one fixture and then the other one will spring up and win the other, so I wasn't surprised that Liverpool won.
"From Man City's point of view, though, they have struggled defensively for a lot of the season," he continued. "Vincent Kompany being missing for too many matches has been a real problem, and they've struggled for consistency as a result."
Club captain Kompany only returned from his long spell on the sidelines last month, and in his absence Pellegrini was unable to settle on a first-choice centre-back pairing, with Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis all struggling for form.
"I feel as though it's a quality issue as well," added Pearce. "I look at Dimechelis in the heart of the defence. He's played a fair few games this season but at the age of 35 he's probably had his better years behind him. I've seen him being pulled around far too easily in matches. His lack of pace has been a problem.
"So with City and the new manager coming in next year, you need someone alongside Kompany and you need to make sure Kompany plays more games than he has done this year. If that isn't the case and you can't guarantee that, then all of a sudden you might have to look to go and strengthen."
Otamendi is Manuel Pellegrini's first choice partner for the returning Kompany but has struggled to live up to his hefty price-tag in a difficult debut season in England. "I think Otamendi has probably suffered because he's not had a partner alongside him who has not been a real consistent performer," Pearce said.
"Sometimes with central defender pairings you're taking strength off of each other. You don't have to be great players but you have a wonderful partnership between you. Roll the clock back a few years to Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister. Neither were regular England internationals - in fact one of them never played for England in Brucey - but as a partnership they were outstanding."
Kompany was unable to provide a quick-fix at Anfield having only recently returned from his long spell on the sidelines, but Pearce did take encouragement from City's 3-1 Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev and their Capital One Cup final success at Wembley.
"The two games prior to Wednesday were really solid defensive performances," he said. "Going to Kiev I thought the team played really well, and the cup final as well. Defensively City looked pretty strong, I don't think Liverpool had too many clear-cut chances in that game.
"This week they have taken their eye off the ball, though. It only takes five per cent down from one team and five per cent up on the other and you get a result like what we saw on Wednesday."
City will need to improve quickly if they are to have any chance of mounting a serious title challenge in the final weeks of the season, but Pearce expects incoming manager Guardiola to focus his summer recruitment on bringing in defensive reinforcements.
"I've been a defender all my life so I would say this but I think you have to have a solid defence," he said. "They've got one of the best goalkeepers in the world at Manchester City, but they need to make sure that the centre of your defence and defensive midfield are strong enough that you're not going to concede too many goals.
"If you don't do that, all of a sudden it erodes what you're doing at the other end of the pitch. Now a new manager has to come in and say: 'Right, how do we go from third or fourth in the league to competing for the Premier League and the Champions League?
"It's easy to talk about it but to actually deliver it they might need to add three or four new players into that squad that give them a touch of leadership in the team as well."
