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Grealish throwaway comment exposes Man City issue that needs urgent attention
Jack Grealish hinted at a mentality problem in the Manchester City squad at Paris Saint-Germain that will concern Pep Guardiola more than their latest Champions League defeat.
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Pep Guardiola said that PSG were the better side after watching another Manchester City collapse, which was a fair assessment for anyone who had watched the game.
He was calm in his post-match interview, not hiding from anything and putting the pressure on his players to say that City will not deserve to qualify for the Champions League play-offs if they don't beat Club Brugge.
Even in a new-look Champions League format, to leave a top-24 place down to a last-game shootout is a damning indictment on their season. They have dropped eight points from winning positions in seven games in Europe.
Before Christmas, when City won one game in 13, Guardiola was forced to strenuously deny a confidence issue in his squad. He held back from saying they were 'back' after a couple of wins in the new year but then felt confident enough to say they were on their way to their best selves after the 6-0 rout of Ipswich this weekend.
All of that progress was undone in Paris but it was the reaction of his players that is more concerning than the result or another collapse.
He fumed at Matheus Nunes in the first half, while there were angry gestures between players, too, from Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne at times when passes weren't played. Bernardo ran ahead of a Nunes pass and rather than get back into position he took his frustrations out on his teammate.
Jack Grealish asked the question City players and their manager have been avoiding in recent weeks. "I don't know if it's a confidence issue," he said. What is clear is that too many players were not on the same page in Paris and that is a concern.
Guardiola's substitutions didn't quite improve things - Grealish's first touch goal aside - and the decision to hook Nunes right at a defensive free kick was exposed when PSG inevitably scored from his right-back position unmarked. Three City defenders turned round to ask who should have been there - it summed up the lack of cohesion all night.
That isn't to say Nunes would have been there, because he twice let free headers go from set pieces. Yet there was nobody within ten yards of Joao Neves and the reaction of the City players was all the confidence PSG needed to know there wouldn't be another twist in the game.
Grealish added: "They had players showing all the time and wanting the ball and keeping it," right after talking about how City weren't keeping the ball. It was another hint to the long list of hints that something wasn't quite right in the City camp.
Injuries happen, defeats follow, eras end. But one accusation that has never been levelled at City is a lack of desire or fight, that they don't want the ball.
Forget the tactical issues exposed in Paris, Grealish may have just opened up on a far more concerning mental issue.
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