Guardiola's Worst Start Shows Aura Is Gone and the Transition Has Started

Eyes fixed on his feet, hands stitched to the inside of his trouser pockets, Pep Guardiola dragged himself onto the turf before the referee had even brought the whistle down from his mouth. No handshake for Fabian Hurzeler, the opposing manager. No word spoken to a single player over the next three minutes. No sense of direction as he wandered into the middle of the pitch before dutifully applauding the travelling fans behind the goal.

- Jordan Campbell

NEW YORK - Eyes fixed on his feet, hands stitched to the inside of his trouser pockets, Pep Guardiola dragged himself onto the turf before the referee had even brought the whistle down from his mouth. No handshake for Fabian Hurzeler, the opposing manager. No word spoken to a single player over the next three minutes. No sense of direction as he wandered into the middle of the pitch before dutifully applauding the travelling fans behind the goal.

It encapsulated Manchester City's final half hour against Brighton & Hove Albion on Aug 31, a blur in which the team showed little emotion and simply acquiesced to their fate.

This 2-1 defeat, following the 2-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur the previous weekend, leaves City with just three points after three games.

It is the lowest points tally of Guardiola's career at this stage of a league season; this is also the first time that City have been below Manchester United in the English Premier League table after three or more match weeks since September 2021, and there have been six managers in the dugout at Old Trafford in that time.

As much as that captures the instability at United, it underlines the sheer length of time that Guardiola and his players have lived with a sense of invincibility - and why they may be struggling to deal with adversity now.