Might a lack of squad depth impact Man City's title push?

 

For Wolverhampton Wanderers, elation. For Manchester City, a first defeat of the Premier League season ahead of this weekend’s blockbuster clash with Arsenal. 

 

Not many people saw this loss at Molineux coming. City had won each of their previous six league games, as well as seeing off Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. A 1-0 defeat by Newcastle United in the EFL Cup was not expected to adversely affect City’s form in the top flight. 

 

Wolves’ 2-1 triumph on Saturday was not a fluke. The home team delivered an excellent all-round performance against the champions. They were both aggressive and disciplined without the ball, jumping on opportunities to win possession without getting dragged out of position. 

 

Wolves were highly effective in transition too, as a front three of Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto gave City plenty to think about when the ball changed hands. The visitors landed 23 shots on goal, but 10 of those were blocked as Wolves defended manfully. Guardiola’s side were simply not creative enough on the day. 

 

City were also disappointed by some of the refereeing decisions in the game, but their manager did not use that as an excuse. 

 

"Today we didn’t lose because of the referee just like we don’t win because of the referee," said Guardiola, who was serving a touchline ban. "We won five Premier League titles not for the referee and today we didn’t lose because of the referee, but for ourselves." 

 

 

City remain the favourites to win this season’s title - and for good reason. Every team in the world is entitled to the odd off-day. City had been flawless up until their visit to the Black Country, and they still occupy top spot after seven rounds of fixtures. 

 

Still, the result and performance at Molineux will give hope to the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and perhaps even Tottenham Hotspur. One of City’s main concerns must be a relative lack of squad depth, a factor which had an influence on the outcome of their meeting with Wolves. 

 

Rodri was suspended after a red card against Nottingham Forest a week earlier, while Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones were absent through injury. Any team in the world would miss players of that quality.  

 

Even so, for a club with City’s resources you would expect to see more alternatives in the ranks. The champions did not fill their matchday squad on Saturday. Jack Grealish was the only senior attacking option among the substitutes, with Oscar Bobb, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez, Josko Gvardiol and Rico Lewis also on the bench, along with two back-up goalkeepers in Stefan Ortega and Scott Carson. 

 

City sorely missed a figure like De Bruyne or Ilkay Gundogan. When the collective unit is not firing on all cylinders, both of those players are capable of grabbing a game by the scruff of its neck and driving their team forward. City lacked a figure in that mould against Wolves. 

 

Many previous City squads had more depth than the current one, but Guardiola does prefer it this way - just like Marcelo Bielsa, one of the biggest influences on his coaching career.  

 

"People say, ‘You have two players for every position’. I do not agree because to be effective, you need a regular starting XI and then make two or three changes. When you make six or seven rotations in a week it doesn’t work well," Guardiola said last week. It is something he has spoken about before.  

 

"We have an academy, if we have a lot of injuries it will be a problem but hopefully won't happen. I like to have not a lot of players, we showed in the last years we have smaller squads, and every season we arrive at the latter stages," Guardiola said in August 2022. 

 

Few would bet against his team doing the same again this term. But if a side as strong as City’s has any notable weakness at all, it is a comparatively thin squad that will not necessarily have a solution for every problem it faces this season.

Might a lack of squad depth impact Man City's title push?