John Stones is sadly now personifying Manchester City - a team that looks hopeless

ARSENAL 5-1 MANCHESTER CITY: Pep Guardiola's champions fell to pieces successful the 2nd fractional astatine the Emirates Stadium and 1 subordinate personified their being 2nd champion against Mikel Arteta's Gunners: John Stones

John Stones was not straight to blasted for Arsenal’s archetypal extremity nor was helium evidently culpable for the second.

The antheral astatine the bosom of the aboriginal calamity that led to Martin Odegaard’s opener was Manuel Akanji and the cardinal mistake up of Thomas Partey’s onslaught was made by Phil Foden. But Stones was not clever successful some instances - giving a spot of a infirmary walk to Akanji and past deflecting Partey’s deed past Stefan Ortega - and was past the antheral closest to Myles Lewis-Skelly erstwhile the talented teen scored a superb third.

And to enactment the tin chapeau connected matters for Stones, Kai Havertz turned him wrong retired earlier belting successful the fourth. Yep, 5-1 and adjacent Havertz scored.

Stones’ show was symptomatic of the malaise that has sent Manchester City’s Premier League play into specified a tailspin. It was lackadaisical, it was astatine slightest fractional a gait abbreviated successful presumption of gait and awareness, it was obscurity adjacent the rarefied standards helium has acceptable down the years. And that is the 2024-25 City.

Quite simply, they person go a antiaircraft catastrophe waiting to hap successful each infinitesimal of the game.

Yes, 1 of the cardinal problems has been the lack of the champion holding midfielder successful satellite football, the Ballon D’Or winner, Rodri. And it does not assistance that Stones and Ruben Dias person started conscionable 1 Premier League crippled unneurotic successful 10 months.

Pep Guardiola felt compelled to motion 2 defenders successful January but erstwhile 1 of them, Abdukodir Khusanov, made his debut against Chelsea, helium made a goal-conceding mistake wrong minutes. But this rather jaw-dropping vulnerability is not simply down to personnel, it is down to a drop-off successful physicality, successful commitment, that fewer saw coming.

Arsenal were superb successful this connection triumph - and successful the likes of Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, scorer of a fantastic 5th - they person a youthful vibrancy that City truthful severely lack. But portion City had the unusual play erstwhile they had a batch of possession, they were desperately abbreviated of immoderate benignant of intensity.

And to spot a Guardiola squad truthful painfully lacking successful strength is rather shocking.

Having won it all, it mightiness beryllium a intelligence thing. And this season’s Premier League present holds small involvement for them, the Champions League and the FA Cup their lone trophy hopes.

But successful this state, they person nary anticipation successful either of those either.

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