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What's wrong with Manchester City? The unfortunate truth is it might be the coach
What’s wrong with Manchester City?
I have a theory, although it’s not going to be a popular one with the team’s Emirati owners. The problem might be the coach, whom the club recently signed to a two-year extension that, based on the value of his previous contract, is likely worth more than $50 million.
And Pep Guardiola has earned that. In nine seasons at Manchester City, he has coached the team to 15 major trophies, including six of the last seven English Premier League titles and a treble in 2022-23. His teams have broken EPL records for consecutive titles won, most points in a season, most wins in a season, most goals in a season, largest title-winning margin and best goal differential, among other things.
Before that, Guardiola won two Champions League titles and a treble at Barcelona and three Bundesliga crowns in as many seasons at Bayern Munich. He is, without question, one of the greatest club coaches in soccer history.
But he might have overstayed his welcome in Manchester.
Guardiola, 53, has already coached more than twice as many games in Manchester as he did at any of his previous stops. If he stays through the end of his extension — and he apparently has more than 50 million reasons why he should — he’ll have spent 11 seasons at the club in a league where the average tenure of a manager is just 787 days, according to The Athletic.
Already Guardiola has been with City longer than most Americans stay in their first marriage. And just as with no-fault divorce, it’s not necessary to place blame when relationships go stale. It is, however, necessary to move on.
That’s where City finds itself after having won just once in its last 11 games in all competition, the worst slide in Guardiola’s coaching career. The latest loss came Sunday, at home, in the Manchester Derby, with City conceding twice in the final two minutes of regulation time in a 2-1 loss that dropped it to fifth in the EPL table.
City hasn’t finished outside the top four since 2010 and just once has a Guardiola-coached team finished lower than second in league play anywhere. The team is giving up goals at a higher pace (1.68 per game in all competition) than in any previous season under Guardiola, with the 42 scores City has conceded in 25 games this year matching the number it gave up in 61 games in 2020-21.
City has clearly lost its swagger. In the past it was cocky and confident; now it’s rattled and in disarray.
So why is this happening?
It’s certainly not because Guardiola has suddenly forgotten how to coach; despite City’s struggles he remains one of the game’s premier tacticians. Injuries, however, have been a factor, especially on the defensive end.
John Stones has played just 11 times this season, two more than Nathan Ake. And Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne have all lost time to injuries or illness. Yet no one has been missed more than Rodri, the team’s midfield anchor and recent Ballon d’Or winner, who has been out since late September because of an ACL injury.
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, right, leaves the field with Matheus Nunes after a match against Manchester United on Dec. 15.
(Dave Thompson / Associated Press)
City was unbeaten in eight games before Rodri was hurt; it has won just seven times in 17 games since.
Yet injuries — even devastating ones like Rodri’s — are a part of the game and City has overcome them before. What’s more likely at the center of the team’s sudden collapse this season is the fact the relationship between Guardiola and his players, like a poor first marriage, has gone stale.
Six of the team’s core players are older than 30, and all six — in addition to Foden — have been there since Guardiola’s second season in Manchester. They’ve been together for more than 440 games and thousands of practices, team meetings and halftime speeches.
There’s a good chance everything Guardiola says is something they’ve heard before. So even if they don’t tune it out — consciously or unconsciously — the message doesn’t resonate the way it did before.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s why many national team managers last just one World Cup cycle and why the average stay of a club coach in Europe is only 402 days, according to the Swiss-based International Centre for Sports Studies. In South America it’s 99 fewer.
Guardiola’s tenure with Manchester City, on the other hand, is already the second longest in club history and more than two years longer than that of any other current Premier League manager.
Familiarity might be a strength in some professions, but coaching is not among them.
Consider Bob Bradley’s time with LAFC. In his first season, which ended with an MLS playoff appearance, players raved about his attention to even the smallest details, which included how well they bused their tables in the team cafeteria. By his fourth season, the team had a losing record and players were complaining that Bradley was too exacting. So the team replaced him with the more laid-back Steve Cherundolo and won a Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup in Cherundolo’s first year.
“Different influence, different voice. I think that is part of the process,” said Ante Razov, an assistant coach under both managers.
I remember a similar lesson from decades ago. The day before the late John Robinson was to coach USC in its third Rose Bowl in four years, I was sent out to cover the Trojans’ final practice. Just before practice ended, the gates to the field swung open and the USC band, led by the song girls, marched in playing the school’s fight song.
As some of the greats from past USC teams suddenly emerged from the gathering crowd to give rousing speeches, it was obvious the team’s newer players were being whipped into a fervor. But behind them several juniors and seniors sat on their helmets and chatted among themselves, ignoring the pep talks altogether. When I asked why, one bored lineman said “we’ve heard this all before.”
Robinson never won another Rose Bowl and three years later he left for the NFL. The problem wasn’t the coach or the message, it was the fact the players had heard it all before.
The same might now be true on the east side of Manchester.
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
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CM Punk appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” ready to take on any challenger that was ready to step to him after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
Punk entered the ring in Oklahoma City and called back to the “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 when he told Cody Rhodes he’d be ready to deliver if a championship opportunity fell “out of the sky.”
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face off during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
“When championship opportunities fall out of the sky, CM Punk catches them,” he said.
Punk named potential SmackDown superstars he’d think might come for the title, including Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest and Trick Williams. He even said that Zayn could come back around and get his rematch if he wanted. He didn’t mention Rhodes’ name, but the “American Nightmare” came out uncalled and marched his way down to the ring.
“I don’t think you and I can run away from each other anymore,” Punk told Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes agreed and mentioned that Punk would want a match with him, just “say when.” It was a quick retort from Punk, who said, “when.” SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis, who was in the ring for the segment, booked the match for SummerSlam.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which takes place Aug. 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
First, however, Punk and Rhodes will be involved in a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City next week. Aldis made the match after Gunther demanded that Aldis put him in a match against Punk. Gunther was hoping it would be for the championship. Instead, Gunther will tag with Zayn.
Gunther didn’t take too kindly to that and attacked Aldis. Rhodes came back out to break up the calamity. He wanted to take on Gunther after the show went off air but Gunther walked away.
Gunther makes his entrance during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images)
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Punk definitely has his hands full as he moves to SmackDown to become a fighting champion.
World Cup tourists are coming to L.A. for the soccer, but they’re staying for the $21 smoothies and Double-Doubles.
As the last Los Angeles FIFA World Cup event ended Friday, soccer fans were eating like locals and famous chains from the region were cashing in.
In the weeks that L.A. has hosted the World Cup, international soccer enthusiasts have flocked to big brands from the area, often in large groups wearing their countries’ jerseys.
It is a phenomenon seen at many of the host cities. In Dallas, giant gas station Buc-ee’s is the main attraction. For people visiting New Jersey, deli shops have been a hot ticket. In L.A., the place to be between matches was Erewhon.
Thirsty international sports fans gathered for pictures outside different Erewhons, wandered their aisles smiling, and, of course, picked up pricey smoothies.
While Erewhon would not comment on its business, mobility data company Arity, which uses phone data to track consumers, said Erewhon visits at the outlets around SoFi Stadium were quadruple what they were a week earlier on June 12, the day of the U.S. national soccer team’s opening match there.
Arity looked at what stores people visited within a 10-mile radius of SoFi that day and also found surges in visitors to nearby El Pollo Loco and Trader Joe’s.
Locals have spotted groups of people in Korea jerseys huddled together, trying to decide what to order at In-N-Out.
Some complained on social media that international tourists at Trader Joe’s were buying up all the mini canvas tote bags.
Soon after the Belgium vs. Spain quarterfinal ended Friday, the In-N-Out near SoFi had a long line of soccer fans stretching out the door in bright red and yellow and black jerseys and matching striped hats and scarves.
One of the workers said he had to explain “spread” and “animal style” to foreign football fans.
“I didn’t know this place existed,” a fan from Romania said while waiting in line.
Los Angeles and other cities and states that have hosted the event need the soccer fans to spend money to make the event worth all the time, effort and money it requires.
A rosy 2024 report projected the World Cup could bring more than $800 million to the L.A. region as 180,000 people converge on the area to sleep, eat and spend.
There were early concerns people weren’t turning up for the event because of the high ticket prices and the difficulty of obtaining visas for citizens of some countries.
However, at least for some L.A. hotels, there was a surge of last-minute visitors which pushed up occupancy and room rates.
While sports fans are not in the region to shop, they do make time for it.
World Cup customer spending is also apparent in beer sales. Andrew Heritage, the chief economist at the Beer Institute said beer purchases at entertainment and attractions in L.A. – outside of World Cup spaces – were up around 10% from normal.
“That tells me that fans in the L.A. area have decided to extend their stay and take in all the other things that the area has to offer, rather than just the match itself,” he said.
On social media, the purpose of these shoppers is clear: grab a quick souvenir or local specialty and take a selfie.
The data from Arity suggests that fans are very efficient when they spend at local spots, diving in, getting what they want and getting out as soon as possible, said Jeff Schlitt, a director at the company.
“Normally you’re there for an hour. They’re going to be there for 15, 18 minutes,” he said. “Why is that? Because they were purpose-driven shoppers.”
For some travelers, the more popular American chains aren’t unfamiliar. But some of the native L.A. fare still comes as a surprise.
As one Belgium-Spain matchgoer from the Netherlands stood taking a picture of the In-N-Out sign after the game, he said he’d never had a burger like the one he’d just tried.
“We only have McDonald’s and Burger King,” he said. “It’s way better.”
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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his start on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called left knee irritation.
Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the past five seasons and made his first start in 2021.
Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 03, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The two-way phenom is on his way to winning his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons as he is hitting .290 with a .939 OPS and pitching to a minuscule 1.79 ERA, the second-lowest in the sport among pitchers with 80-plus innings. His OPS is also the seventh-best mark in the league.
The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter up until the break, but he will “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”
Ohtani dealt with knee issues earlier in the season.
It is certainly a big hit for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a fractured rib that has kept him out since late May.
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready in the on deck circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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Ohtani hit 99 home runs combined in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS in that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery but returned to the bump last year and owned a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K/9, a figure he also put up in 2022 that led the American League.
The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have 300-plus plate appearances and 40-plus innings in six separate seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has more than excelled at both.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2026. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
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Ohtani is not hitting like he has in the past, but certainly the best pitching performance of his career will make up for it. He “only” has 20 homers and 56 RBI this season.
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