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Enzo Maresca’s decision to withdraw Josko Gvardiol and Marc Guehi at half-time sent a blunt message during Manchester City‘s 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest, with Tony Cascarino insisting the manager pointed the finger directly at the pair.
The Citizens suffered a third consecutive Premier League defeat at the City Ground, where Forest claimed their first home win of the season. Jair Cunha struck after six minutes. Academy graduate Liam Delap then scored twice to seal the points, moving Forest out of the relegation zone. The result leaves Arsenal six points clear at the top following their victory over Hull.
City, who opened the season with seven straight wins, have now lost to Aston Villa, Brighton, and Forest. Concerns extend to the Champions League, where Gianluigi Donnarumma’s questionable display in the midweek win over RB Leipzig drew criticism.
Defensive Errors Cost City Dearly
Gvardiol was dispossessed in the build-up to the first goal. Guehi failed to put Delap under pressure for the second. Maresca confirmed both players picked up knocks, leading to their substitutions at the interval. Cascarino rejected the injury explanation, arguing the Italian tactician made an example of the defenders.
“What’s gone wrong is the biggest issue for me. And it’s quite clear that when a manager makes two substitutions after 45 minutes, [Josko] Gvardiol and also Marc Guehi, who have come off at 46 minutes, he’s pointing the finger totally at them.”
“For the first goal, I don’t think Marc Guehi’s ball is a great one into Gvardiol. And when he loses the ball, you’d expect a player of City’s quality to be able to handle that situation. They defended awfully. They were awful yesterday defensively. And I’m not excluding [Ruben] Dias out of this as well. Didn’t play well. And there were others. And they look like a team to me that there’s a real lack of belief.”
Warning Signs Existed Since August
Cascarino traced the problems back to the Community Shield, where Arsenal beat City 3-0. He claimed that performance highlighted a gulf between the two sides.
“This great start they had… I mean, when I was at Community Shield, now people might think of this as, ‘Well, it’s Community Shield and people aren’t ready’. They were awful in that Community Shield. They got beat 3-0 by Arsenal. And they were awful. They were second best everywhere. And I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that City team, even in years gone by, when they played at the Community Shield, they were always pretty decent.’ They might not win it every year, but they were always a pretty decent side. They started on the back foot and then got going, and they showed their quality.”
City Are There for the Taking
The talkSPORT pundit labelled the current squad a team in disarray.
“Yesterday, if you’re looking at a team that is all over the place, and that includes the goalkeeper as well, Man City are there for the taking at the moment. It’s quite obvious. What Brighton did last week to them – and beating them, and also being knocked out in the Cup, even though they lost on penalties – they’ve done enough to show that they’re a way better team for me than City are at the moment.”
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