A team in crisis: What's behind Man City's recent struggles? - ESPN

Pep Guardiola is discovering the meaning of «crisis» at Manchester City. It is a new sensation for the 53-year-old manager, who has transformed the fortunes of every club he has coached and influenced football like no other in the modern game. But cracks are beginning to appear in his empire at the Etihad.

Saturday's 2-1 Premier League loss at Brighton saw Guardiola suffer a fourth-consecutive defeat for the first time in his senior managerial career — a run dating back to 2008 when he started at Barcelona. Brighton's win also marked City's first four-game losing streak since 2006, two years before the club were taken over by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan and his Abu Dhabi-backed billions.

Tottenham, Bournemouth, Sporting CP and Brighton have all beaten City in the space of 10 days, albeit in three different competitions — not quite the «four-in-a-row» that their fans have boasted about since winning a fourth-successive Premier League title last season.

It is always dangerous to write off a great champion and herald the start of their decline, but it comes to everyone, no matter the sport. The problem with an end of an era is that it is almost impossible to predict. The signs only become clear when you look back with hindsight and everything seems obvious. But if Guardiola was to take a glimpse over his shoulder at recent months, the signposts will be there.

«Today in the press conference I was asked if it was the end of the era,» Guardiola told reporters after the defeat at Brighton. «I know people want that. I smell it for many, many years. What we have done in these years, people have said it's so difficult, but if somebody would like to beat us it is going to happen because in the next 50 years, we're not going