Man City defeat by Newcastle proved point about leadership group

So inexperienced was Manchester City’s starting XI vs Newcastle in Tuesday’s trip to Newcastle that Nathan Ake took the armband for the first time since 2020.

In one sense, it’s a stick in the sand for a player who was on the verge of leaving in 2022. The Dutchman was one of City’s best defenders last season and his versatility helped the Blues to the Treble.

However, when he was taken off in the second-half, the captaincy was handed to Manu Akanji, a player who only arrived last summer. By the final whistle, Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Jack Grealish were the only players on the pitch to have been in the first team longer.

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It outlines the mass turnover in players over the past two years, something highlighted further by the nature of Pep Guardiola’s small squad. Still, City were expected to get the job done against Newcastle.

Eddie Howe had made 10 changes to his side himself - two more than Guardiola did - but many of those had been at the club for a number of years. In the end, City lacked the nous only in-house experience can bring.

This is not a blame game, though. City have been bludgeoned by a spate of injuries with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones all out. Mateo Kovacic and Grealish were starting their first games back from setbacks.

Meanwhile, Rodri served the first of his three-match suspension for his red card against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, although he may have been rested regardless.

Kyle Walker’s only contribution of the night at St James’ Park came in the warm up as he laid balls off for shooting practice. His rest was well-deserved, as was